The Final Farewell
by Voice4TheMute
Summary: Scott caught an unknown disease and it is slowly killing him from the inside. Seeing that this may be their last chance to talk to him, each character will walk into his room and say their final farewell to him.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents_

"Where are we going Scott? It's like…midnight and it's cold!" I complained as Scott Pilgrim pulled at my arm as we walked outside. We decided to take a night stroll and Scott told me that there was something he wanted to show me. Our night adventure brought us to a park far away from my place.

"We're almost there Ramona! Just up these stairs!" He said with some excitement in his voice. He continued to tug me along as I did my best to keep up with his grueling pace up the wooden stairs.

"Okay! Just slow down before I fall down, alright? And don't be so loud. Parks are technically 'closed' after sun down." I reminded him but it didn't faze him. If anything, it made him smile.

"That's because they don't want you finding out about this…" He said as he reached the top of the staircase and walked forward a bit. I finally caught up to him and stood right next to him, finally seeing what he wanted to show to me all this time. We were standing on a small hill that was high enough to see the city skyline. Yellow streetlights filled the horizon, red roof lights indicated building tops, white lights frantically weaving through the sea of other white lights with the occasional red, yellow, and green lights. We were looking at Toronto at night…and it was a beautiful sight to see. "My memory may not be great, and I know I forget some of the most important dates, but at least I remember the month that we first met." Scott said as he turned his head to me. "Happy anniversary, Ramona!" I couldn't help but smile and feel warm all over.

"Happy anniversary, Scott" I said to him as I leaned and gave him a small kiss. His lips were warm, and not because it was cold outside. It was love, and I could only hope that my lips were just as warm, maybe even warmer, than his. "…even though our anniversary was a week ago." I added as I snuggled up against him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"No way! It was last week!" Scott panicked but I 'shh'ed him quiet.

"Don't worry, there's always next year, right?" I said to him as I closed my eyes and just basked in his warmth. I felt his fingers lace with mine as he rested his head on top of my head.

"I guess…" He muttered. "I love you, Ramona"

"I love you too, Scott."

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

_You would think that would be the end of the story. He was a guy, she was a girl, and they fell in love, roll credits. Well…that would be the end of the story if this was a fairytale. Unfortunately, this is the real world. And one thing that I've learned about the real world is that the good times can only last so long. Hard times will come and it will rock your sense of life down to the core. Now these problems are normally stuff like bills, taxes, you know…everyday stuff that we have to go through. But sometimes hard times could bring the worse. I'm talking fires, earthquakes, robberies, floods, blizzards…some real bad stuff…_

_...what I went through…_

…_no…_

…_what we all went through…_

…_is nothing like anything I've mentioned. _

_That memory is about a week old. What's happening now…?_

"Ramona?"

I woke up and brought my head off the cold table inside a small room that's filled with monitors and electronics. I rubbed my eyes with my hand as my blurred vision slowly started to refocus on the fuzzy object that woke me from my nap.

"…Stacy? Stacy is that you?" I said groggily as my vision came back and I saw Stacy Pilgrim looking at me with a tray of coffee in her arms.

"My God Ramona…you look like a mess. How long have you been here?" She said to me as she walked next to me and sat down. I respectively moved over so she had enough room and she handed me a cup of coffee that had my name on it. I nodded gently as I took my cup and sipped the rejuvenating liquid. It was a nice mellow coffee blend to keep my awake, but not enough to keep me wired.

"I don't know…maybe three days…" I said as I saw Stacy retract away from me.

"Straight? They let you do that here?" She said in shock as I averted my eyes.

"Well, I hide out at night when they check up on him…" I said as I looked forward. Stacy did they same. My sentence hit a small cue for us to look over at 'him'. Afterall, we were all here for 'him'.

"…any changes?" Stacy asked as I shook my head sadly.

"He's been the same…" I said to her, looking down at my cup. I felt Stacy's hand squeeze my shoulder for comfort and I gladly accepted it. I needed the comfort, but I knew she needed it as well. If anything, this is probably a lot harder on her…

"…he'll pull through." I heard her say, but her voice was unconvincing. In front of us, with at least five monitors attached to him, laid Scott Pilgrim. We were at a hospital in Toronto and visiting hours just started. It is today that the doctors will get the test results to see what is wrong with him…

…and whether or not he will live or die…

_The Final Farewell 014_

_It's amazing what can happen in one week's time. He was fine a week ago…then I noticed that he was getting a bit tired, but then again who isn't? Then he complained about stomach pains…soon it was a high fever…coughing…sweating…pains in his chest…the more I saw, the more I didn't want to believe…until he didn't wake up one morning. That's when I realize that this was no 'everyday' sickness. This was something worse. WAY worse…_

"Hey Ramona, hey Stace." Wallace Wells greeted as he, Stephen, Neil, and Kim walked in an hour later into room. They all surrounded Scott's bed and looked at his face and then at the monitors. "Is there any change?" Wallace asked Stacy and I but I shook my head.

"It's the same. It's been the same for the past three days." I said irritated but I felt Stacy pat me on the shoulder to calm down. I relaxed a bit, but my soul was still tense from the fact that nothing has changed since the beginning.

_Scott came in, the doctor diagnosed him, he started exhibited different symptoms, they re-diagnosed him, he showed more symptoms, they called in specialist, THEY diagnosed him…and now…no signs of him of getting better. It was frustrating to see these so called 'doctors' come in and just give their two cents so they can go back to not caring. Now because of their carelessness, they have NO IDEA what's going on with Scott! ARG! …ok…calm down. Maybe I'm just restless and spiteful from the three nights of watching Scott…but still…_

"He seems so…peaceful. Just laying there and sleeping." Kim said as she had her arms crossed and looking down at Scott.

_It must be really hard for her as well. She knew Scott way before me…they even dated throughout high school…who really knows what's going through her mind._

"Think he'll pull through?" Neil asked but Stephen Still jumped on him.

"Of course he will, don't even say that!" Stephen said to him, but he was really saying that to everyone in the room. His optimism was admirable, but it wasn't enough to keep everyone's spirits up. Afterall, he's been saying that for the past week.

"…I just wish he had enough strength to talk to us for a full day…" I said into my arms as I slouched back on the table that served as my bed for the past three days. "He's awake…says hi weakly before falling back asleep…"

"I'm sure if he could talk more, he would…" Stacy said to me as I felt her hand resting on my back.

_I know they're siblings…but other than their weird brother/sister relationship, I really don't know much about those two. But still…blood is blood…I would be worried about a family member even if I didn't have a strong relationship with him or her. And am sure they love each other…his parents and brother would come in everyday to check is progress._

"Come on Scott…fight this." Kim whispered as she placed her hand on his and gave it a light squeeze. Minutes turned to hours and we anxiously waited for the doctor to come in to tell us what he's been diagnosed this time and if they can treat him. Within those hours, Julie came by with some crackers and fruit and Scott's parents came in again to check up on him and his progress. At noon, the doctor finally opened the door and all attention was on her.

"Hello Scott, how are you feeling today?" She said to him even though he was still sleeping. "…such a strong boy." Doctor Li said as she took her pulse, checked his breathing, and checked the monitors for any kind of health differences from the last time he was checked. "You have many friends and family here Scott…you should wake up and say hi." She pleaded with him but still no response. I heard her sigh as she turned to everyone in the room.

"So how is he, doc?" Wallace asked as her attention was on him, then back at everyone in the room.

"…I'm going to request that everyone that isn't family to leave the room for a moment."

It was the worst thing that could have slipped through her lips. Everyone who was anyone was now staring at her dumbfounded. What could this mean? Why family? What did she have to say to the family that we couldn't hear?

"They're basically family for Scott." I heard Mrs. Pilgrim say to the doctor but she shook her head in disagreement.

"I'm sorry, but it's protocol. If they're not blood-related, then they have to wait outside. Please don't take offense. But this is family sensitive information…" She said to them, but they still didn't move. "I know you're all worried about your friend…and I can sympathize, but rules are rules. You must wait outside." She said as slowly, we all started to walk out the room. I was the last to leave. I stalled as long as I could in closing the door so I could hear the conversation that Doctor Li and Mr. Pilgrim were having. The only part of the conversation I could catch was _"…next of kin"._

We all crammed in the small waiting room, hoping that Stacy would come in and tell us what's going on. Was Scott going to be okay? Were they going to call in another specialist to diagnose Scott? Will Scott ever be the same again? So many questions…so little answers…if I had a genie at the moment and was offered three wishes, I would only use one: I just wanted Scott to be okay.

What we saw next…what we heard next…was open weeping. Mrs. Pilgrim was seen through the waiting room window running out of Scott's room, her voice echoing throughout the corridors and Mr. Pilgrim chased after her. Everyone in the waiting room exchanged worried looks at each other as Scott's brother, Lawrence, slowly emerged from his room and walked towards us. As he opened the door and walked in, everyone attention shot to him, hoping for some kind of news about Scott's health. But we all had low expectations...not after what we saw.

"…Scott's going to die." He said, a bit choked up on his own words. "Stacy's in there right now giving her final good-bye." He said as he turned around and walked out of the waiting room. I'm not sure where he went after…but at that point I didn't care. My mind was jumbled. My world…turned upside-down.

…Scott Pilgrim is going to die?

* * *

And so starts an epic saga of epic proportions! This concludes the introduction chapter to a much larger story! As you read from the summary, these will be the final good-bye talks with Scott as he lays on his deathbed from EACH character and right now, I have ten lined up. Also, TrixieStixs and paranoia456 will be guest staring in this story as they agreed (quite willingly actually) to write up one character each. Which characters did they wanna write about? You'll have to wait to find out! But until then…keep an eye out for Stacy's good-bye!

Until next time!

Oh, and before anyone ask: yes, everything is fine at home and my personal life.


	2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents _

"The disease has started to spread throughout his body. A lot faster than we anticipated…" Doctor Li said to us as I looked over at mom and dad. They were looking at each other with worried looks as well. "…so far it has spread from his chest down to his feet, which explains his inability to get out of bed to walk around. Now it's slowly working its way towards his arms and his head." She continued, but the more she talked, the more it hurt to listen. I could feel needles of pain shoot from the center of my chest all the way down to my legs. I could feel the pain…the pain that my brother was going through. I wanted it to stop. I wanted it to just go away…but unlike his pain, mine was temporary. Who really knows how he's feeling right now as he laid there. "We're surprised that the disease hasn't gotten to any vital organs…all it has done is weaken his lungs and heart, but they're still performing at a slightly below average than a normal human…"

"Doctor…what's the prognosis?" I heard my dad ask as the room got silent. The beeps of the monitors were the only thing audible as we all waited for the doctor's prediction about my brother's health.

"It…it does not look good." She said as her eyes went from my dad, to my mom, to my brother, then to me. "…we estimate that he has, at best, a month to live." It was then my mom broke into tears and ran towards the door. My dad was slow to react, but he followed right behind her, trying to catch her before she ran off to do something stupid. Both Lawrence and I were stunned. I couldn't believe what I just heard. I didn't want to believe.

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

"Is there nothing you can do for him?" Lawrence asked as Doctor Li closed her eyes and slowly shook her head back and forth.

"He's resistant to all our antibiotics. If anything, they're the reason he's still alive right now. But the more we pump into him, the more he'll be resistant to the medicine. Also, if we pump more meds in him it will just continue to weaken his liver to the point where it will no longer function. I'm sorry…but there's nothing more we can do." She said to us as I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. And I knew Lawrence could see them. He knew I couldn't go out there and break the news. I wouldn't have the composure to talk to them straight. "We'll continue monitoring him. Just…pray for a miracle." She said as she walked out of the room. The tears were now falling from my eyes and I did my best to cover them up, but alas, there were too many. I felt Lawrence walk over next to me and hug me close. I hugged him as well as I continued to cry.

_I must be strong…I'm stronger than this…_

"I'll go out and tell the others." Lawrence said to me as he looked over at Scott. I looked over as well and saw that he was stirring in his sleep, as if he's about to wake up again. "…talk to him, ok Stace? Afterall, we'll never be sure if or when he'll go." He said as he released me and headed to the door.

_The Final Farewell 015: O Brother, Where Art Thou?_

"Scott? Scott, are you ok?" I choked out as I tried my best to hide my voice and the tears that were all over my face. I had to be strong. I had to be strong for him.

"I've been better…" He said as he looked up at me with those weak eyes. "Are you the only one here?"

"No…no, the others are in the waiting room." I said to him as I looked at his face. I could tell that he was in pain, whether he was too stubborn to admit it was a different story. I pulled up a chair and said down next to his bed. "Scott…I just want you to know that I love you, and I care for your well being." I said as I reached up and placed my hand over his. His hand was cold…his entire arm was cold…

…I couldn't take it…

I felt those tears well up again and I started to cry in front of him. There was a moment of confusion on Scott's face before I closed my eyes and rested my head on his bed, now openly weeping for him.

"Stacy…why…"

"God dammit…I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Here I thought I could be strong. Strong for the both of us. But I guess it turns out that I can't even be strong for myself." I said as I lifted my head and looked at him with puffy red eyes. "You would always do careless, reckless things…things that would get you in trouble. And I always thought that I would be the responsible one. Remember back then? You love to climb trees back in Northern Ontario. I would tell you that if you continued to climb, you'll eventually fall and break your neck. But you didn't listen to me. You would always say that you were the older brother and you were careful. But what happened one day? You fell and broke your arm. We had to rush you in the hospital and get you pain killers and a cast. When I approached you after you got your cast, I remember saying to you 'ha ha, I told you so!' and you replied 'ha ha, I told you I won't break my neck!'. You were always like that Scott…you did whatever you wanted to do. If you wanted something, you pursued it until you got it, even if it means getting into harm's way. I felt that I was the one looking after you. I felt like I was your older sister and you were my younger brother. And for a long time…that was my mindset.

I would give you advice, tell you when your actions were stupid or not…hell, I even invaded your personal life to make sure that you weren't setting yourself up for disappointment. Knives Chau…Ramona Flowers… I just didn't want to see you hurt. I found myself being your protector…I felt like I had more life experience than you…but now look at me. I'm no 'older' sister. I'm just the 'younger' sister. I can't protect you from this. I can't prevent the inevitable from happening. I've failed in protecting you from the outside world.

And now…now I'm the one that feels like she needs protecting. I suddenly feel like I'm the one that's being exposed to the cruel, outside, world. I feel revealed, naked, unprotected from the harsh reality. I need you Scott. I need you to make me feel safe again. Remember when we were little? At the park? I was playing in the sand when those bullies came over and started picking on me. They kicked sand in my eyes and I started to cry. Almost instantly, I heard your voice 'leave her alone you booger heads!' You came to my aid. You were my protector. You were my big brother. It felt nice to have someone that will stand up for me and keep me safe. And I always knew you would…the way you defended for things that you care about…they way you fought for Ramona…the way you fought for me when we were younger…I always wanted to emulate that. But I didn't have the physical strength. But what I lacked in physical strength, I made up in logic. Your actions were careless, and I always felt like I was the voice of reason. Sometimes my warnings paid off too…maybe even kept you from hurting yourself. But that's because I was able to see everything that was happening around you. It's how I've learned about the world and how dark and sinister it can be. It was because it was happening to you and I was able to learn from it. I saw how evil people can be, how powerful an emotion can become, how determination can affection someone, the power of love…"

I felt more tears fall freely from my eyes and I wiped as many I can away from my face while sniffling hard. "…I'm not ready to face the world unprotected Scott. I need you. I need you to be my big brother. I need someone to show me that anything is possible if you put your mind and heart into it. I still need you Scott. I'm still too young to be thrown into the real world. We need you. I need you. Please don't let us. Please don't leave ME!" I looked behind me to see a figure looking through the door window and looking straight at us. It was Knives Chau as she had a worried look on her face. She usually comes later in the afternoon, but someone must have called her and informed her about the situation. I looked over at Scott and stood up, leaning over and kissing him gently on the forehead.

"Scott…I love you. I love you more than you can ever imagine. You'll always be my big brother and whenever someone mentions you, I'll be proud to say that you were the most caring and protective brother a little sister can ever ask for." I said as I turned around and walked towards the door. I opened it slowly and greeted Knives with a smile. "He's all yours. I'll tell the others to give you a few minutes alone with him." I said to her as I propped over the door for her as she walked in. I slowly closed the door behind me and looked up at the ceiling, as if I was staring up at the sky.

_I may not be strong now…but I will be one day. I hope that one day I'll be as strong as you…_

…_big brother._

* * *

To Be Continued

So with that said, we now have nine characters left with Knives Chau being the next character to say good-bye to Scott. I wanted to get this chapter up asap so you guys get the idea of what's going to happen. So how did I do with Stacy? Good? Bad? Could have done better? Read and review! The next chapter may take some time since school is now picking up again. ETA is probably this Friday. So until then…!


	3. The Real World

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents _

"He's all yours. I'll tell the others to give you a few minutes alone with him." I said to her as I propped over the door for her as she walked in.

"Scott?" Knives Chau whispered as she appeared by his bed. She saw him turn his head weakly at her with half-conscious eyes and a weak smile. I closed the door slowly so they would have their privacy. We all needed our privacy…especially in this kind of situation.

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

"Hey Knives. How's college treating you?" He asked as I felt a permanent frown conquer my face. For the past week, I came back to Toronto to see how Scott was doing…and everyday he would ask the same question. It made me feel sad…sad to know that one day I might come in here and he won't be here to ask that question.

"Scott…it's hard to enjoy college when you're like this…" I said to him as I sat in the seat that was pulled next to him. He reached up to me but I instantly took his hand so he doesn't waste his strength for my sake.

"I'm sorry. Once I get better I'll…"

"Scott…they told me you're going to die…" I bitterly said out loud. I didn't want to admit it. I never wanted to admit it. But when I received the call from Kim, I knew I had to accept it sooner or later. And it was better if I did it sooner…afterall I knew from past experience that I'm not one to let go so easily.

"I'm…going to die?" Scott said as I squeezed his hand, trying to give warmth to his unusually cold hand. I slowly nodded as Scott turned away from me and just stared up at the ceiling. "I'm going to die…"

_The Final Farewell 016: The Real World_

"Scott, please stay strong. You must stay strong." I said to him but he didn't turn his head towards me.

"That's why my sister acted like that…"

"Scott"

"There's so much I haven't done yet…things I wanted to see…the places I wanted to go…"

"Scott! You've done enough!" I yelled at him. This made him turn his head towards me. "You've done enough things that most people can't measure to that amount. You've lived life to the fullest and for the most part, you experienced everything one person will experience in a lifetime. You learned a lot…and I learned a lot from you. I learned so much from you…" I got up and walked to the window sill and looked out the window.

"I'm not even twenty yet but meeting you…being with you…learning from you…you taught me about the world that we live in. You thought me what the world has to offer and how cruel the world can be. My teachers can only teach me book smarts, but by hanging out with you, Kim, Stephen, everyone…I've acquired my street smarts and my life smarts."

"Knives, I'm no teacher. I'm not a role model either…"

"That's where you're wrong. You're probably the best teacher I've ever had. Call it chance if you want, but I like to think it was faith that put you on that bus. At first…I thought you were a God-sent. I mean…mom nagging me about not being interested in boys, you showing up to help me, who wouldn't think that? What I saw was a cute, helpful guy…what I didn't see was the door of a whole new world being opened in front of me. At first, it was small things. You know…Sex Bob-omb, rock music, The Clash at Demonhead…after being exposed to that genre of music, I felt my horizons become broaden. Music that wasn't following a classical pattern, singers who sung as beautiful as they looked, unruly and rowdy fans and musicians that did whatever they wanted and not caring who saw them...it was a whole new experience to me. And in a way…I wanted that. Before meeting you, Scott, my life has been very organized. I studied at the same time every day, devoted a set amount of time to my friends, concentrated hard on my school activities and test. My life had order. Maybe even too much order. Seeing this…chaotic art form of music and people…it was a paradigm shift. But it was a shift for the better. I slowly indulged…sometimes cutting time in my homework time to just listen to music, change my look to whatever I wanted rather than what my parents wanted, realize that missing one homework assignment won't _KILL_ me…I changed from a very organized person to…a person who lives in the moment. And I loved every second of it. I was able to let myself go for once. Away from the judgment of my parents, away from the responsibilities from school, away from what I should listen to…I was my own person and it felt great. Of course, at the time, I didn't see that. What I did see was that I was Knives Chau…Scott Pilgrim's girlfriend."

"Knives. I'm sorry about cheating on you…I know that what I did was wrong…" Scott said as I walked back to the seat that was next to his bed and sat down.

"Late, but thank you. And I'm not thanking you for the apology…but for the cheating. I know! I know! Weird to say…but it's true. Thank you. It taught me a lot. It taught me that sometimes taking a chance in someone can pay off. I guess now I know what they mean by 'better to have loved and lost than to never to have loved at all'. It taught me how a relationship should feel. How letting someone into your life can make you feel…complete. How happy that person can make you and how relationships should work. It also showed me the dark side of relationships. The breakup...the potential of cheating…the effects…the aftereffects…" I said as I closed my eyes. The feeling of Scott's betrayal was stinging my heart still. "I had to learn to get over it…but it was hard. Heck, it still hard to get over it. My friend told me that you'll never forget your first love. And boy is she right. You are hard to forget Scott."

"I'm sorry, Knives"

"Don't be. I mean…from that experience, I discovered emotions in me that I never thought I had. I never would think of myself as the jealous type or the clingy time. I guess it took someone like you to make me realize it. But I learned a lot from it, and I learned a lot from the various things I was exposed to as a…well, for lack of better words, 'Sex Bob-omb groupie'. I mean…I was exposed to alcohol…when into clubs while still underage, got into themed drinking parties, made friends, made enemies, these past two years…I would never trade them for the world. So don't think of yourself as someone that hasn't accomplished anything or someone that wasted his life. Take it from someone from the outside world looking at your life, you've done a lot. If anything, you prepared me for the world….the real world. You help open my eyes to things I probably would have been too naive to see at my age. But I feel ready now…I have the advantage of seeing it first hand: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I feel like I can take on the world. Afterall, you took on the world. You fought the world, basically, when you fought against Ramona's evil exes. It was quiet the endeavor…and it was very inspirational. I'm probably not as strong as you, but I'll get there eventually. One day, when it's Knives Chau versus the world...I'll remember what you did and I hope I can make you proud." I looked at the clock and realized that I spend almost thirty minutes in here with Scott. The others probably want to come see him too. I got up from my seat and started combing back his hair and smiled.

"Your hair is getting shaggy…"

"…it is…?"

"You should probably get it cut…" I said to myself as I leaned in and kissed his cheek gently. I didn't lean in too much. I didn't want him to feel the tears that were on my face. "Scott, I know I said this before and up to now I still mean it, but I love you. Please get better. I'll be praying for your health every day." I said as I turned around and started to head towards the door.

"Knives?" Scott called. I turned around to see him looking towards me. "…thanks for being the best 'simple' relationship I've ever had…"

"…thanks for dating this 'Chinese school girl'. I said to him as I opened the door and walked out".

I felt tears fall freely now that outside Scott's door. I quickly tried to wipe them away but alas it was an uphill battle.

"Oh Scott…"

"Anyone in there?" A familiar voice said as I looked up.

"No…It's just him now. Sorry for being like this…" I said as I continued to wipe away my tears.

"It's ok. No one is judging. In fact, they would probably judge if you WEREN'T like this…" He said to him as I embraced the rugged man in front of me.

"Thank you Stephen…"

"You've come a long way from being a high school girl, Knives. If I was your father, I would be proud of how my daughter turn out." He said to me as I squeezed him harder. "There there Knives. So Scott's alone, right?"

"Mhmm…"

"Then I guess I'll go see him next." He said as I slowly released him so that he can go in next.

* * *

To Be Continued…

_**NEXT: Final Farewell 017: Dwelling in the Past!**_

Until Next Time…!


	4. Dwelling in the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents _

"You've come a long way from being a high school girl, Knives. If I was your father, I would be proud of how my daughter turn out." He said to me as I squeezed him harder. "There there Knives. So Scott's alone, right?"

"Mhmm…"

"Then I guess I'll go see him next." He said as I slowly released him so that he can go in next.

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

"Scott?" I called as I pushed the door open and peeked my head in. The rhythmic beats of the monitors filled the otherwise silent room as I entered and slowly closed the door behind me. As I walked a few steps forwards, I saw him looking over at me with that half-smile on his face. It amazed me that even in his current condition, he still had the energy to smile like that.

"Hey Stephen Stills. What's new?"

"Oh you know. The usual. Band is coming along slowly. Playing the bass is slowly getting to me…don't have to remember chords…" I started as I stood next to his bed with my hands in my pockets. I wasn't sure how to act towards him. I didn't feel like breaking down and crying for his health…I'm not that much of a pansy…but just seeing him like that, it made me feel uneasy. "…its actually easier to play the bass since all I have to do is play single notes in rhythm. It's nice I guess…" I said as I looked at an arbitrary spot on the bed. I know it's weird for guys to talk to each other eye-to-eye, but in cases like this…it was really uncomfortable.

"Yeah. Playing the bass is easy and it's fun…" Scott said as he coughed violently for a seconded before settling down. I felt my heart race as I heard those sickening coughs. Each one of them sounded more violent and more congested than the next. That's what I realize that this was too much. This was all too real. Everything was suddenly coming into focus for me. This was all real. Scott, the inevitable death, the fact I'm losing a friend….

I couldn't handle it.

"I can't take it!" I yelled as I found myself turning around. "I-I-I just can't do it! I can't stay here! I gotta get out of here!" I said as I rushed to the door and grab hold of the door handle.

_The Final Farewell 017: Dwelling in the Past_

I couldn't pull open the door though. I physically couldn't. My will not to abandon my friend in need was preventing me from doing it.

"What am I doing…" I said out loud. Not necessarily at Scott, but to myself. "…what's wrong with me. Why do I do this every single time."

"It's ok Stephen Stills. I mean…if this is too much…" I heard Scott said but I turned around and walked over to his bed again, standing over him.

"It's not that. I mean…I'm always running. I can't seem to stay in place. When things get real it's just….scary you know? Every time we're about to go on stage…it's always like this. Practicing and playing in front of friends. That's easy. Playing to total strangers…I just want to run. I just want to go back to a time where things were…were more comfortable." I said as I finally took a seat in the chair that was next to his bed.

"Well…I'm sure there's no way on going back after this. I mean…I'll be-"

"Don't say it!" I pleaded with Scott. I didn't want to hear that 'd' word. My psyche couldn't handle it. In fact, I'm still surprised I'm still here. "Yes…you being, um, that, will make things difficult to go back to a comfortable time. I just…I just want to know why I'm always like this. I mean, I run away from everything. Or at least I run away from change. I just want things to stay the same, you know? Things that are comfortable. Things where stuff like this doesn't exist. Is that too much to ask for?"

I sighed as I leaned back in the chair and propped both of my feet on an unused part of Scott's bed, as if I was laying on a couch of a psychiatrist. "…I just. Change is scary. Do you know why I continued with this whole 'band' idea from college? It was something I was good at. I was good at singing and playing the guitar. It's why I wanted to play guitar for the band and I wanted you on drums. Guitar was my favorite instrument and I'll be damned if I get told to do something else. Of course now things have changed…for the better who really knows…but I carried the band idea from college to our real 'adult' lives because we were good at it. I was good at it. Without a band or a band to play with…I don't know what I would do. I just wanted to play with my friends…

"…the band was fun…"

"But then Natalie had to go corrupt everything!" I said, frustrated on that recent turn of events. "Playing with the band? fun! Increasing the size to a point where we had well over four people in it, all playing different instruments? Not fun! I mean…it's not what we made the band in the first place! Scott, do you remember why we made the band?" I said as he turned his head to me with a smile.

"To meet chicks and have fun…"

"That's right buddy. To meet chicks and have fun. Suddenly, it transformed into something different. Something that went against everything the band stood for. When Natalie took the band to bigger and greater things, she left me and you behind. I knew that making the band big would bring nothing but trouble…but when I saw what it did for her…her popularity, her reputation, her fame…I suddenly wanted that. I wanted to be known…I wanted to be famous…I wanted people to know my name. But at the price of betraying my friends? It wasn't worth it. Don't get me wrong, I still wanted to make it big with the band. But I wanted to bring you guys with me. I didn't want what happen to us happen again. I didn't want fame and fortune split us up like it did with Kid Chameleon."

"But…Sex Bob-omb…"

"Arg! Sex Bob-omb!" I said pulling at my hair at the name. "I know what you're thinking, and I swear to you I didn't abandon you guys. I…I didn't want to abandon you guys. But…but the way Sex Bob-omb was going…the lack of practice…the motivation to play as we started to record…it was history repeating itself. Sex bob-omb was circling the drain like how Kid Chameleon was when Natalie took over. We stopped playing and focused more on publicity. And I was responsible for it. Recording…it may have been the nail in the coffin. I saw it as a opportunity to get us some publicity…what was really happening was I was slowly destroying it from the inside out. We didn't practice…we hardly got together…I would see Kim sometimes, but not enough to talk to her about practicing…I saw the signs of death in the future for Sex Bob-omb. And what did I do? …I ran. Like I always do." I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"I ran…I ran from Sex Bob-omb. I didn't want a repeat of what happen to Kid Chameleon. I abandon ship before the ship was actually sinking. And for that, I'm sorry Scott. I'm sorry Kim… I was a coward for running. But the times were changing…and I still desired for a band. It was a selfish decision to run. In the end…it was all me. I was seeking something that would make me feel comfortable. And if it meant joining another band that was well off then so be it. I'm a terrible person for doing it…and sometimes it eats away at me…but looking back, there are far worse things that I've gone back to that was 'comfortable'." I said as I heard Scott laugh for the first time in a week.

"Julie Powers…"

"Oh God…Julie Powers. That kinda goes back to my idea of going back to what is comfortable. At least with Julie…she was a sure thing. I mean…not in the 'sexual' way, but I know she would always be there for me. It's kind of a weird friendship really…throughout our college career she would stick with us, even when our band sucked. I…I kinda grew on her and she grew on me. We had things in common…we wanted company…and it just kinda…happened. When we broke up the first time…it was I that wanted her back. I couldn't imagine myself going back to being single and inexperience. At least when I'm with Julie…I knew what I was doing. There was no surprises…no curve balls that new relationships might present. Things were very predictable with Julie because…well…I was already exposed to them. No risk, no trouble. Just her and me dealing with each other's stuff since we were both afraid to move on to new relationships. Of course that all changed due to…uh…

"You being gay?"

"Yeah…" I said, scratching my untrimmed beard. "And truthfully…I'm glad that happened. In fact…I'm kinda glad all this happened. It got me to see what change really is. Change is scary…but sometimes it's for the better. I would have never gotten where I am today without change. If Natalie didn't take over the band, I might not have pushed for Sex Bob-omb after college…we might not have been invited to Julie's party…you might not have met Ramona…we might not have started to record…and I might not have met Joseph."

"Funny how things like that happens from one decision…" Scott said weakly at me as I nodded.

"But look how much happier we are now because of change. I found something that's both comfortable and reliable while you found Ramona. Kim also seems happier now that she's not drumming for a band, but for fun. I guess change is sometimes necessary. I guess it is possible to find comfort in change. But…" I trailed as I looked at Scott. "…this is change that I will probably never be comfortable with."

"…don't worry about it Stephen Stills. In time…" Scott said as he lifted his hand towards me. I reached up and clasped it in mine so he can save his strength. "My death might be a change for the better…"

"Don't say that Scott. Don't you dare say that…"

"…you saw how change can affect the future. Sometimes it's for the better. Who knows what will happen after I die."

"You're not going to die!"

"…you know. You're probably right. I might not. Afterall…I'm Scott Pilgrim." He said weakly. I wasn't thoroughly convinced, but it did put me at ease…even if it was a lie. "Can't make any promise though…"

"Don't worry buddy. I know you'll pull through for us. I believe in you. If there's anything you can do, it's cheat death…twice." I said as I got up and started to walk towards the door. When I grab hold of the door handle once more to go back to the waiting room, something dawned on me. Something that I wanted to ask Scott for a long time.

"Hey Scott?"

"Yeah Stephen Stills?"

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Add my last name whenever you address me."

"…I dunno. I guess I'm scared of change as well."

* * *

To Be Continued…


	5. Promises

_Voice4TheMute Proudly Presents_

"It's your turn man," Stephen simply sated as he stared at the second youngest person in the group that had gathered outside of Scott's room.

_The Guest Chapter by TrixieStixs_

Neil had a bleak and blank expression on his face as he looked at Stephen's puffy eyes. Neil then softly stuttered out, "O-o-okay Stephen," Neil then slowly walked to the room Scott was in. His steps made an unpleasant echoing sound as Neil slowly walked towards the door. When Neil had finally made it to the door he stared at it with empty eyes. His right hand was shaking as he reached for the door's handle. A feeling of fear and uncertainty gripped Neil as he retracted his hand that was reaching for the handle. Neil knew this feeling all to well, for he had felt it once before already in his life. Neil couldn't look at the door with his eyes as he stared at his feet, trying to muster up the courage to open it.

* * *

_The Final Farewell 018: Promises _

"Come on Neil, I don't want to be out here all day. Just knock on the door already will yah?" A feminine voice called out from behind a bunch of paper bags, before continuing, "You can't just stare at your feet all day Neil. I know you're nervous about living with someone that's older then you but you have to get over it. I already told Stephen we are coming over, he's fine with it, these bags are getting heavy, so can you hurry up and knock on the door?"

"But I'm scared Stephanie, what if he doesn't like me? What if he doesn't want me as a roommate? What if he thinks I'm a loser?" Neil asked his sister the barrage of questions in a panic as his eyes never left his feet.

Stephanie let out a big and audible sigh as she rolled her eyes, an action Neil couldn't see because of the bags she was holding. After calming down her annoyance she answered the question with, "You are almost nineteen Neil. When the hell are you going to grow up? I mean you'll be fine, no one is going to think you are a loser. Unless, you pull out your gameboy like a loser!" **(FUN FACT: Neil always pulls out his gameboy when he feels nervous or scared)**

"Fine, I'll try not to," Neil monotonously responded as he then proceeded to knock on the door of his soon to be house. After a few seconds and a myriad of noises from behind the door, mostly yelling and crashing, the door opened.

A man with a five o'clock shadow appeared as he stood in front of the entrance to the house. Stephanie then turned her body to the right so all the bags would no longer obstruct the view of her to her old collage friend. Stephanie then gave Stephen a smile and said, "Hey Stephan thanks for letting my brother stay here." She then shook her head towards where Neil was standing and told her friend, "That's him over there, his name is Young Neil, he's kinda a loser but you'll get used to him after awhile."

"Wait is his name actually Young Neil? And let me grab those bags for you, they look kind of heavy," Stephen said as he reached for the bags the woman was holding.

After handing Stephen the bags with a smile she pointed at Neil and answered, "His name is actually just Neil, but since there are two Neil's in our family everyone calls him Young Neil. He totally hates it by-the-way, so I suggest you make everyone call him that." She said the last sentence with a wink as Neil just stared at her with I hate you written all over his face.

"Well, come on in Steph, Young Neil, I'll introduce you to the gang," Stephen said as he stepped to the side and welcomed them into the house with his right arm, bags in the other. The two then walked into the door as they followed Stephen into the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen the trio was greeted by a brown haired young man with a dopey smile on his face and a red haired girl that was glaring at him angrily at the kitchen table. At the sound of the trio entering the room the two turned as Stephen put the bags on the table and told the two of them, "Scott and Kim, meet Steph's little brother, Young Neil."

"Hey Steph, long time no see, so this is your little brother that Stephen said was going to be living with him?" Scott said as he smiled at his old friend and former band-mate from collage. After then sizing Neil up for a few seconds he said, "I like him!"

"Yep, that's him alright," She answered with a smile.

Kim just glared before saying, "I don't like him!"

"Kim, come on now. Give the poor kid a chance, he's just got here." Stephen scolded his band mate, before looking over at Young Neil to apologize with the look on his face and saying, "Don't worry about Kim, she hates everyone."

Neil then began to uncomfortably start fidgeting like there was a battle going on within himself. Stephanie watching this then decided to take the pressure off her little brother by asking Stephen a question, "So, this is the new band huh?"

"Cool, A gameboy advance!" Scott said, rushing over to Young Neil with a grin on his face.

Stephanie did a face-palm as she shook her head, Stephen just chuckled before answering her question by nodding his head. The four of them began having a conversation, leaving Kim out of the loop and listing two both.

"What are you playing?"

"So, does your band have a name?"

"Super Mario Advance."

"What do you mean your working on it?"

"That game is awesome!"

"Don't worry, this band is going to be great we sound like sex,"

"Oh crap, a bob-omb!"

"Your lame Stills, sex?"

"Watch out for that bob-omb dude!"

"Sex!"

"BOB-OMB!"

Kim then had a revelation, a brilliant idea that she demanded be heard, "Guys, shut-up! I have an idea on what we can call the band."

"Really, what?" Scott and Stephen asked simultaneously, with a eager expression plastered on their faces.

"Sex Bob-omb's!"

Stephen had a surprised look on his face, he knew Kim fairly well. Okay, let's be honest, they have only known each other for a few months. That didn't matter though, what mattered was that in that short time frame Stephen had known Kim, he knew just what she could do when she got angry. He then wisely choose his next words very carefully, though he made sure that his nervousness didn't show in his face. He then took a big gulp as he finally spat out, "K-Kim, I really don't know about that-" but before Stephen Stills could even say the last word of that sentence; he felt a strong and disturbing presence stare into his soul. Stephen then head slowly panned over to where Kim was sitting, Kim's eyes were piercing into every fiber of Stephen's being. Then when all hope seemed lost, a voice called out saving the condemned man's soul.

"I like that name," Young Neil said, his eyes still not leaving the screen of the gameboy.

Scott patted Young Neil's back as Stephen exhaled deeply, Kim looked as though she was about to smile but thought better of it as she simply smirked and said, "Okay, I hate him less."

"Looks like we got our first fan… and a new friend," Scott smiled as he patted Young Neil harder on the back. Neil finally took his eyes off of his gameboy and smiled at everyone. His sister had a look of I told you so plastered on her face. It was a touching and surreal moment that was destroyed as quickly as it had come when Scott randomly blurted out, "Have you guys ever noticed how Stephanie and Kim have almost the exact same hairstyle?"

"SHUT-UP SCOTT!" The two ladies said in unison as the males in the room let out a hearty laugh.

* * *

A warm and soft hand reached out and squeezed Neil's hand that was shaking slightly at his waist. Neil turned his head slightly, since his head was still staring at the floor, and saw a female hand holding his left hand. Neil just smiled as he looked at the hand holding his, he knew who's it was by the nail polish; his girlfriend, Stacy Pilgrim. Neil felt a soft yet strong comforting feeling as he squeezed harder on his girlfriend's right hand. He then lifted his head up and looked down at her face and into her eyes, although she didn't say a word Neil knew what was on her mind by what was on her face. Her puffy eyes showed him the scares she had received when she faced what he was so deathly afraid of, her smile told him to be strong for her, and her hand in his symbolized that even though he was going in there alone she'd be right there next to him. Neil simply smiled and nodded at Stacy, she then let go of his hand. Neil then turned to the door, reached out with his right hand, and opened the door.

Neil let out a deep exhale as he heard the door close behind him, the sound the door made as it shut was unnaturally loud as it was the only sound being made in the room at the moment. Neil then gritted his teeth as he made his way to the chair that sat by Scott's bedside. He took a seat as he looked down at his dying friend who was sleeping peacefully. "How the hell did we get here," Neil quietly asked himself. Though it seems that with that, almost silent question, the voice of someone else in the room awoke Scott from his light sleep. Neil's eyes darted across the room trying to delay the unavoidable from happening; Scott talking to him.

"Neil? Is that you?" Scott asked weakly, as his eyes slowly opened.

"Yeah Scott, it's me, it's Neil," Neil solemnly said before moving closer to his bed ridden friend.

Scott then gave a wide smile as he turned to his friend who he had grown closer to over the past year. He then said to him in a soft voice, "Just the man I wanted to talk to. How is Stacy doing, I know I just talked to her but still, is she holding up okay? She took off so fast,"

"She's doing alright Scott. She's doing just about as good as the rest of us, you really shouldn't be worrying so much in this condition. You have to save your strength to fight this thing man." Neil said cutting off Scott statement, as the two just stared at each other in silence after they both said their statements.

Scott broke the staring contest as he looked up to the ceiling, "Remember the promise you made me Neil?" Scott's question cutting through the silence as it stabbed into Neil's ears.

Neil body shivered after the question registered with him. Neil then simply responded, "How can I forget?"

* * *

"Come on Neil, you don't have to be such a baby about it. I mean come on, it's just my brother! You act like he's some horrible monster! He's just plain old Scott Pilgrim!" Stacy Pilgrim said with a smile as she attempted to drag her boyfriend by his right arm.

Neil Nordegraf seemed to be cemented to the sidewalk the two were standing on as Stacy kept pulling on his arm in vein. Neil then defended himself by telling her, "Stacy, baby, you just don't understand."

"What do you mean I don't understand? I understand perfectly well that you are too scared to tell Scott that we are dating. You can really be a pussy sometimes Neil!" Stacy exclaimed as she playfully berated her boyfriend of a month now.

"Stacy are you really calling me a pussy right now? You have seen half the stuff your brother has done, right? I mean he's the best fighter in the province! He's killed six men, and a women! He head-butted a vegan so hard he turned into coins! Not to mention he has a sword that I swear is as big as I am! Who knows what he would do if he found out I was dating his little sister!" Neil rattled off in a flustered panic, waving his arms frantically as he said his rant.

**Top Three Things Neil Thinks Will Happen If Scott Found Out He Was Dating His Sister!**

**1. Scott will punch him so hard that he goes into next Tuesday, where Scott is waiting just to punch him again!**

**2. Scott will put him in a blender and drink him like a smoothie.**

**3. Scott will literally turn him into a toilet! A freaking toilet!**

"Pussy! Pussy, pussy, pussy, pussy, pussssy!" Stacy continued to tease her poor boyfriend with the endless assault to his ego.

"Come on Stacy, please," Neil begged as he finally took a few steps forward.

"Well Neil, maybe next time we don't date the girl who's big brother defeated a league of evil ex's," Stacy said with a smile that had a way of melting Neil where he stands every time she did it.

Neil just playfully pouted as he answered, "But she's so cute though!"

"Awwwww!"

Neil then asked his girlfriend, "But seriously, please tell me we don't have to tell Scott!"

"Tell me what?" Scott asked seemingly appearing out of nowhere behind Neil, who quickly let go of Stacy's hand at the sound of her brother's voice.

"Ugh… ugh… ugh… that you are awesome?" Neil said trying to save face as he stared into his girlfriend's brother's eyes.

Scott then grinned stupidly as pride filled his face as he told the two, "I am pretty awesome!"

"That's not it Scott, Neil is just afraid to tell you that we are dating," Stacy said with no emotion. Neil's face lost all the blood it was carrying, Scott's smile faded as he took in the statement that his sister had just said. Stacy on the other hand looked as though what she had just said was no big deal.

Scott, finally registering the situation, then told his sister, "I'm going to borrow Neil for a second."

Before Stacy could even reply to the statement Scott had picked up Neil, literally, and began walking down the block. Before she even knew what was going on the two had vanished.

"Where are you taking me?" Neil asked, trying to hid the fear in his voice, not doing a very good job at it I might add. Neil looked around as they made their way down yet another alleyway. Finally Scott had come to a stop as he set Neil down in the dark alley the two were occupying. Neil's eyes couldn't stay still as they darted around looking for a way to escape the situation they found themselves in. Neil's back was up against a wall and no matter how many scenarios he played out in his mind they all ended with one thing; facing Scott Pilgrim.

"Get ready to fight me Neil," Scott said, almost trance like as he stared blankly at nothing in particular.

Neil just stepped back a few steps before stuttering, "W-w-w-what?"

Scott put his fists up to his face before answering the question, "I said, defend yourself. Get ready to fight me Neil, you know I hate cheep shots, so this is fair warning."

"Scott, no, wait," Neil helplessly called out.

"One, two, three, go," was the only thing Neil heard before the unenviable conclusion of him getting his ass kicked hit like a ton of bricks, or in this case a whole bunch of fists. It was horrible, it was like a bear fighting a baby, or to you Canadian readers out there, GSP fighting Matt Serra; the second fight, not that fluky first one. I'll save your virgin eyes the gruesome details, let's just say there was a lot of knees, punches, and head-butts; oh the devastating head-butts.

Scott then turned away and backed off of Neil as the look on his face said is that really all this kids got. Out of the corner of Scott's eye he saw a figure slowly stand up. He turned to see Neil still on wobbly legs with blood flowing down his face, it was a sad yet powerful sight to be held. The determination in his eyes could be heard in his voice as well as he called out to Scott looking him eye to eye, "It doesn't matter how much you hurt me Scott, I'm still going to go out with your sister. No matter how much it hurts me I'm going to be there to protect Stacy, I'm never going to leave her side. Even if the task seems impossible, I'll never give up. Because even when we are apart, we're still side by side. And I promise you one thing Scott, no matter the situation, how hard it is one me, or how life threatening it is, I'll never let Stacy know, because I'll protect her no matter what. And she doesn't need to worry about me." After the heart-felt monologue Neil clinched his right hand and rushed towards Scott, delivering a clean punch on his jaw.

Scott didn't even move an inch after the punch connected with his jaw, instead he rubbed the side of his face that was hit. He then looked down at Neil who was panting heavily in front of him. Scott then gave Neil a smirk before telling him, "You can date Stacy, on one condition. You keep that promise."

Neil, obviously too weak to answer, just smiled in response. Scott taking in Neil's response then goofily smiled and told him, "You punch like a girl!"

* * *

Scott coughed before laughingly saying, "Stacy wouldn't talk to me for a whole week! She told me I was too hard on you."

"You were too hard on me, I was spitting up blood for like three days!" Neil exclaimed, sharing his friend's laugh.

But after the laughing had subsided all that was left was painful awkward silence. Beeping monitors was all that could be heard until Scott broke the silence by saying, "I'm not going to be able to be there for Stacy much longer Neil."

"Don't say that Scott!"

"It's true Neil, I really need you to keep that promise man. Stacy needs someone strong right now, you promised that you'd be strong for her no matter what." Scott said coughing furiously after the response, as Neil watched helplessly. Until finally, Scott regained the little composure he had left in his sick body.

"Alright, I'll keep the promise no matter what," Neil responded in the most composed tone he could muster up.

Scott then stared at the ceiling before telling Neil, "Thank you."

Neil stood up after the response in shock before telling his dying friend, "You shouldn't be thanking me Scott. I should be thanking you, thanks to you I actually know what it means to grow-up. All my life people have been telling me to grow-up, but you Scott, you are the only one who showed me how. You showed me what true power is, it's not brute strength, or intelligence. You showed me that you don't need to be stronger or faster or smarter than anyone just as long as you have more heart. Because growing-up is about making mistakes, compromising and making sacrifices, finding something you care about enough to die for. If I never meet you, I'd probably still be just Young Neil. Thanks to you I actually know what it means to be a man."

Scott then just turned and smiled at Neil, "You're welcome then."

Neil then turned and began walking towards the door, "Promise me you won't die."

"I'll do my best. And one more thing before you go," Scott called out stopping Neil in his tracks as he turned to look at his friend one last time. "If you break my sister's heart, I'll kill you!"

Neil's eyes widened as he simply nodded to his good friend. Neil then looked down at the door's handle and without a second thought, opened the door.

* * *

**A/N Alright, sorry if I ruined the story for you guys. I have some bad news if you hated this chapter… I have another guest chapter before this story is over. I know, I'm sorry! But the good news is that the next chapter is going to be a thousand times better! If you enjoyed this chapter, the good news is that the next one is going to be a thousand times better! :D**

**Finally, I would like to thank Voice 4TheMute for kindly asking me to write a guest chapter for this lovely story!**

**And to any of you "Family Values" readers out there. I'm sorry I didn't update when I said I would. I've been going through some tough times, My best friend's wife passed on. It's been tough to get my mind in a "Family values" mood. But I promise I haven't abandoned that story! After I finish my other guest chapter spot, It should be updated soon… hopefully.**

**Until Next time…**


	6. Interlude

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

A/N: Just a short filler piece as we all eagerly await the next guest chapter. Not too many characters left, but if people have been doing the math, then you'll notice that there are a lot of empty character slots in my guest list of 10. Who can they be…?

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents _

"…Scott's going to die." Lawrence said, a bit choked up on his own words. "Stacy's in there right now giving her final good-bye." He said as he turned around and walked out of the waiting room. I'm not sure where he went after…but at that point I didn't care. My mind was jumbled. My world…turned upside-down.

…_Scott Pilgrim is going to die?_

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

Everyone was in the same state of mind when I looked around the room. No one was expected that response to come up…I sure didn't. I saw Kim leave the room while Stephen Still started to pace around. But soon, all of that worry and all of that concern suddenly shifted weight from themselves and each other…to me. Everyone was now looking at me as if they were expecting some kind of solution to this sudden turn of events. They needed an answer. They wanted something that would reassure them that things will be ok. But the truth was…I was looking at them for the same thing.

"I…I…" I stuttered as they continued to stare. My mind was still jumbled and all over the place. I couldn't think of anything to say that would ease the tension. I just needed to get out of there. I needed to escape what was happening at the moment. "I…I need some air…" I said as I suddenly go up from my chair and raced to the door. I heard the whispers of my name as I passed everyone. They were concerned about me. They wanted to know if I'll be ok. But at this point, I wasn't sure myself. I just needed to get out of there as fast as I can.

_The Final Farewell 019: Interlude_

It was everywhere. Death was all around me. I haven't noticed it until now, but being in a hospital made me realize that these people are probably in the same state Scott is in…maybe in worse. Family members waiting for the doctor's prognosis, the sound of heart monitors and breathing machines echoing in the hallways, the noise of violent coughing coming from patient rooms…my understanding of hospitals were that this place was a place for cures and saving lives. But now…in the verge of losing someone that I love…the mask of the hospital has been shattered. This is no miracle place. Doctors are no miracle healers. They just keep the ball rolling. They cannot prevent the inevitable end. Some do it for the money…some do it to actually save lives…but all they're doing is just extending life…just for a little bit longer.

_I need to get out of here. Maybe grab a smoke or something…_

I walked out of the hospital, rummaging through my subspace bag for my pack of cigarettes when I saw Kim outside, her back against the hospital wall and talking on her phone.

"It's getting worse. Yeah…yeah…" I heard Kim say into her phone as I slowly approached her, very curious to whom she's talking to. "I think it's time to…" She started but then trailed off as her head turned towards me and looked me straight in the eyes. "…I'll have to call you back."

"Who was that?" I asked her as she flipped her phone closed and placed it in her sweater pocket.

"Oh…just updating family and friends on Scott's condition…" She said, looking straight ahead and watching the cars pass by. "What are you doing out here Ramona? Shouldn't you be in there with Scott?"

"I came out for a cigarette. I just couldn't stay in there when they told us that Scott might…you know…" I said to her as I continued to search my endless bags to find my pack of cigs. "I mean…he's been through worse right?" I said as I looked at Kim but she kept her eyes forward.

"Might…" Kim repeated as she took a deep breath. "I really hope you're right Ramona. I really hope you're right." She looked over at me right when I found my pack of cigarettes and she raised an eyebrow at me. Confused, I offered the box to her.

"Um…want one?"

"No thanks. I don't smoke."

"Figured I ask. Who wouldn't be stressed at a time like this?"

"Scott always said those things are evil. Maybe you should give up smoking."

"Maybe…I'll start after this one." I lied as I opened the box and saw that I was down to my last cigarette. I took it out and placed it between my fingers, twirling it a bit to ease some hand tension. "Hey Kim?"

"Yeah Ramona?"

"Do you think Scott is going to die?" I said, looking at her for support. Throughout this entire ordeal, I have never said that 'd' word out loud. I made sure I never said it out loud. I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to admit to anyone, or myself, that there was a possibility that Scott was going to die. Kim didn't answer right away. But then again, she never does. But her eyes said it all. They were empty…no sign of attitude, no sign of hope….nothing.

"Scott is strong. He won't give up without a fight…" She said, but I wasn't convinced. The feeling of lost hope was still sitting in my stomach. I placed the cigarette between my lips and started patting down my body for my lighter.

"I'm surprise that you're still out here Ramona." I heard Kim say to me as I turned my head towards her in surprise. Did she not want me to stay out here? What's her deal? "I mean…you should be there, in Scott's room, you know…talking to him while he's still here." Kim said, turning her heard away from me.

"I would…but right now Stacy and his family are with him. I should give them time before I go talk to him…" I said to him as I took the cigarette out of my mouth and continued to pat myself down for my lighter. "Are you going to go talk to him?" I asked as Kim nodded her head.

_Kim Pine…Scott's first girlfriend. He never really gave me his opinion on their relationship…I've only gotten bits and pieces from Kim, herself. Who knows how deep their relationship really was…and who really knows what's going through Kim's head as all this is happening. Would it be out of line if I ask her about it now…?_

"Hey Kim?" I started asked but then I heard the sound of someone running. Both Kim and I looked over to our right to see Knives Chau coming straight at us.

"Ramona! Kim! I got your call! Is Scott really-" Knives said, trying to catch her breath.

"Knives? What are you doing here? I though you don't come until-"

"They just announced it a few minutes ago. He's still in the same room right now. Go for it." Kim said, cutting me off and pointing towards the hospital elevators.

"Thanks Kim. I'll see you guys upstairs ok?" Knives said as we both watch her run into the hospital and took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.

"I thought she still has class…"

"I guess she left the class when I gave her the call." Kim said as I turned to look at her. "Knives wanted me to call her if there were any changes in Scott's health. I guess this is considered a 'change' in his health, don't you think? Besides…she is one of Scott's exes that he still keeps in touch with. It would be wrong if we kept her in the dark about this."

"You're one of Scott's exes as well Kim."

"Yeah, and…?" Kim said to me, but it stopped me dead in my tracks. I wasn't sure where I was going with it…I guess I was still curious about her relationship with Scott.

"I…I don't know. I'm sorry. I mean…Scott never got into detail about you and him. I guess I'm just kinda curious about it." I admitted as Kim looked downward towards the ground.

"If you're wondering if I love Scott…I do." Kim said to me as I felt my eyes widen a bit. "…at least, I loved him when we were dating. I thought that we might go the distance. But as you can see, we didn't. He made a mistake…I was too quick to judge…it was just a relationship that wasn't meant to be. But I did love him, Ramona. If I love him now? …well, who's to say. If I say no, then I'll look heartless. If I say yes, then you'll probably take it the wrong way. So I'll just say this. Scott means a lot to me. A whole lot…and it'll be a sad day if Scott Pilgrim left this world."

"I see. Thanks Kim…" I said to her as I looked back at the entrance of the hospital then back at her. "I know this is insensitive…and it's a weird thing to ask…"

"Just say it Ramona…"

"…has he ever cheated on me…with you?"

There was silence. It was a very uncomfortable silence. My heart started to race as each second went by. It was one of my biggest fears I've kept to myself for a long time…but who's to judge me for it? Kim, Scott's first girlfriend….Scott, Kim's first 'love'…that kind of relationship doesn't disappear without a trace. I know I'm the jealous type…but I just needed to know. I needed to hear the answer straight from Kim. But what was killing me was that Kim wasn't responding right away!

"Kim…has…?"

"No Ramona. Don't be ridiculous." Kim said to me as she turned her head at me and gave me a semi-serious stare. She tried her best not to make it look like she was glaring at me…and God bless her for trying. "Scott Pilgrim loves you. He would go to the ends of the earth to find you. You know that."

I felt my mind at ease as I saw Kim pass me and started to walk back into the hospital. Maybe she's going to go check up on Scott or the others…who knows. But I still needed to stay out here…recollect my thoughts. "I really hope the doctors are wrong…" I said aloud. "I hope he pulls through."

"C'mon…" I heard Kim say to me as I looked back at her before she entered the hospital.

"…he's Scott Pilgrim."

Kim passed through the sliding double doors and was out of sight. I shifted my jaw in thought and remembered I still had my last cigarette. I looked at it as it rested between my fingers and then back at the hospital. Sighing, I ripping it in half and tossing it on the ground.

_I guess now's a good a time as any to quit smoking._

* * *

To Be Continued…


	7. Mutual Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

A/N: Moving forward with the story now! Still waiting for paranoia456's chapter but until then, we'll keep going with the next person in line. To tell you the truth, I was looking forward to writing this chapter. I found that writing in this perspective was fun and unpredictable so I hope you guys enjoy the final farewell of…well, I'll let you read and find out!

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents _

Neil came back to the waiting room and the first person to greet him was Stacy Pilgrim. She embraced her boyfriend and he hugged her back. They needed each other at times like this…hell, everyone needed someone at times like this…

…but not me.

"It's nice to see that…" Wallace said aloud as the attention went straight to him. "…makes you remember that there is still love and hope in the world." Stacy and Neil sat back down and we were all sitting back in our chairs, scanning the room as the same question raced through everyone's mind.

_Who's going to see him next?_

"So Stephen? How's Scott's condition?" Wallace asked as Stephen shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"He's…doing fine? I mean, the least I can say is that he's not getting any worse. Visually, that is." It was a sigh of relief for everyone, but it wasn't the answer we wanted to hear. It was definitely not the answer I wanted to hear.

"I guess someone should go in and see how Scott's doing. You know…just to check."

"I guess I can go. I mean, I am family." Stacy said but then Wallace got up.

"It's alright Stace. I'll go check up on him…"

"Where did Ramona disappear off to?"

"I think she's with Kim. I saw them outside." Knives' voice chirped.

"Maybe someone should go get them. We can all go for lunch or something."

"I'll go check up on him Wallace. I have to swing by the nurse's station anyways."

"No Stace. Allow me. I still have my peace to make with him."

"Who's up for Chinese food? Well, I guess it'll just be 'food' for you Knives."

"Very funny, jerk."

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" I yelled as the random conversations came to a screeching halt. I was on my feet and everyone was now staring at me like 'what the hell'? But I was mad. Enough was enough and I was going to put a stop this madness. No more depressing conversations, no more dark moods that never went away, no more facing the inevitable fate of Scott Pilgrim…I was going to put a stop to this once and for all. "I'M going to go see him and give him AND those doctors a piece of my mind!"

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

"Um…I really don't think that yelling at the doctors or at Scott will make things better." Stephen said to me as he reached for my arm to guide me back to my seat. I retracted my arm away from him and looked around the room.

"I'm not going to sit here and wait for it all to end!" I said to the unmotivated bunch. Throughout this entire week, I watched from a distance as these supposed 'doctors' did their best to help Scott, but their work did absolutely nothing! I could have been a better doctor than these clowns!

"You all can sit there and do nothing. I'M going to go see Scott!" I said to them as I marched out the door.

"Julie! Wait!"

"No, Stephen! I have to do this!" I yelled back as the door to the waiting room slowly closed.

_The Final Farewell 020: Mutual Friends _

"Scott Pilgrim!" I yelled as I entered his room. I felt the stares of nurses behind me as the door to his room slowly closed behind me.

_I will get to them later. Right now I wanted a word with my dear 'friend'_

"Aaa…no. Not you." I heard Scott weakly say to me as I approached his bed. These was a hint of sarcasm in his voice…but if you didn't know him as well as I do then you might not picked it up. This just made me more furious at him.

"Thanks, Scott. You really know how to make a girl feel wanted." I replied back in usual fashion, placing my hands on my hips. "You must feel pretty damn good about yourself. You got the VIP treatment from doctors, friends, and family. They are always seeing you and getting you whatever you want. I mean, you must feel like a KING right now. Makes me sick…" I said, looking away from him. "Do you know how hard _I_ have to plan to get the same attention? Planning themed parties, getting the alcohol, getting the food, inviting the 'cool' people. And here you are, just laying there and you're still getting all the attention. All week! I…!" I paused for a minute as I felt my left eye get irritated. I removed my glasses and started to rub my dry eye.

"Julie…I'm not doing this on purpose…"

"Of course not. You never do anything on 'purpose'. It's all on 'accident' with you." I said as I placed my glasses back on my face. "'Are you and Nat dating?' and you said 'What? No!' and then a minute later you tell me that you are…unbelievable! 'I'm sorry! It was an accident!' Like hell it was Pilgrim. How do you 'accidentally' date someone?" I said, retelling our past conversation when we were in college.

…_College…_

"Urg…college… when my life hit my high and my low." I said, rubbing my forehead. "I was roommates with Natalie Adams, the girl that will go on and become the biggest pop artist to come out of Canada in the last decade. I was, like, one of her best friends!"

"But you didn't like her…at all."

"Yeah! At the time! She was a loser, anime-junky, lazy ass that just wanted to sit in front of the computer and eat Pocky! She wanted nothing more than to waste the day away. A girl like me who wanted to see the world with a girl like her that wanted to see the world pass her by? Unacceptable! I had to go out and find other people.

"And that's when you met 'us'."

"And that's when my life hit my low. Within the hour I met Stephen Stills and you...Scott Pilgrim." I said as I rubbed my eyes again. "You two had no clue what you were doing. You guys just talked about instruments, bands, and girls all day. You were probably as loser-ish as my roommate but at least you two were out there seeing the world! So I hung out with you guys. Plus I thought you guys were…'rugged'."

"You mean Stephen Stills?"

"Stephen! That gay-!" I yelled but stopped myself from yelling anything else. "Yes, Stephen Stills. He was a rugged man that knew what he wanted in life. Unlike you, he had a plan for the future. You? Well…you lived in the moment. You were always out there seeing what's there to see…often forgetting about plans you made because of Stephen or, eventually, with Natalie.

"Sorry Julie."

"Whatever. I guess in the long run it was better for her that she dated you. I mean, look where it took her. But I wanted to meet more people. I wanted to see and meet and mingle with everyone on campus. I'm no attention hog, but I just wanted friends, you know? You and Stephen weren't really friends with me…and Natalie? Well…I hated her at the time. So…in the middle of our freshman year, I planned my first party…and man what a party it was. Met almost everyone on campus…met Sandra and Monique…got a lot of alcohol and food donations from the guest…hell, even Natalie was there but mostly it was because of you. You brought Natalie to my party. That's when I really saw how far the relationship was…" I said as I felt my eyes become agitated again and rubbed them once more. "This hospital circulating dust or something? God…You and Natalie. You and Natalie…why her Scott? Why? Her looks? Because she could sing and play the keyboard? Do you know who TAUGHT her that stuff?"

"Julie. What are you…?"

"Nothing! Nevermind! Just drop it, ok?" I said, still rubbing my eyes. "Even though I didn't like her, I felt that she was being taken away from me. My own roommate. She was supposed to be my first friend on this campus. My first friend ever…" I said, dropping my tone as I felt my arms get really heavy. They dropped down and swung idly by my side. "You know why I throw all those parties Scott? Why there was a party every week in my room? It's because I wanted friends…friends that liked me for me. I always told myself that 'this time, I'll meet my future best friend!' But every party…the same disappointment. I mean, I met everyone…got their names, their majors, what room they were living in. But to them, I was the hostess. I was the girl who threw rocking parties every Friday night. I don't know what they liked, what their favorite past-times were, if they have brothers or sisters…and no one ever asked me those things as well. To them, I was the girl who had a place for them to have fun. They never gotten to know me…no one did. Sandra and Monique didn't become my friends until way later in the year when I finally had class with them. But no matter how lonely I got after the parties were over, I didn't stop them from happening every week. I couldn't. Whenever I threw them, I had temporary friends. They may not know me well, or wanted to get to know me…but they were there and they knew my name. That's all that mattered. They will all leave me eventually and I'll be left alone for another week. But when the end of the week came around, I had friends again." I said as I felt my nose start to run. I looked up to see that the window was wide open so I walked over and closed the window, locking it tight. "Stupid allergies. That's why I'm-"

"We came back Julie."

"Well duh you came back! You always came back! You, Stephen, and Natalie! You always came back because Natalie lives with me and Stephen was my boyfriend! You guys came back whether you wanted to or not!"

"But we came back after college."

"Well duh! I was still dating Stephen after college! We may have broken up three times throughout college but our relationship was still holding. Holding on what, I'll never know…"

"But we…"

"Forget it Scott! I know the truth. You, Stephen, Ramona, all of you weren't really my friends. You all came because of affiliation…because of the food…because of the alcohol! But you know what? I don't care. Because thanks to my parties, I met a lot of famous people. The Katayanagis, Gideon Graves, Envy Adams. People know about my parties and I've made a lot of friends because of them. But you know what? Since you and Stills seems so diligent in coming to my parties, I'll invite you to my next one. Next month, I'm holding a party in your honor. It'll be a 'glad you are better Scott Pilgrim.' And I'll pull out all the stops too: food, alcohol, famous people. Who knows Pilgrim, maybe a record guy might become desperate enough to sign you to a record label or something." I said as my eyes were still getting irritated. I started to rub them furiously before figuring that I needed to wash them out with water.

"But Julie…I…"

"I won't take 'no' for an answer Pilgrim! You've shown up for all my parties in the past so you better show up for this one! It's themed after you for God's sake!" I said as I walked towards the door out of Scott's room.

"Julie. Wait. I'm sorry about…"

"Nevermind Pilgrim. I'll hear it later. Right now I gotta wash out my eyes and then give those nurses a piece of my mind!" I said to him as I opened the door and walked out of the room. As I walked down the hall towards the nurse's station, I whole mess of thoughts were running through my mind. Most of them were angry statements about how crappy their hospital was and what a piss-poor job they were doing for Scott. When I got to the station, I overheard a conversation they were having among themselves.

"Did you see the charts of the patient in room 504? They look terrible."

"I know…and the doctors are stumped about what it could be. Bacterial? Fungal? Maybe it's a virus?"

"The poor boy is suffering though. It's a shame he's going to die. Such a young age…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU THREE!" I yelled at them as all three of the nurses were startled by my sudden appearance behind them. "How dare you talk about my friend like that! He's been in WAY WORSE situations than this! He'll bounce back like he always does! He will! You'll see! He'll-"

"Oh my God, are you ok sweetie?" One nurse said as she got up from her chair walked towards me. I didn't back away from her approach. I just stood there, staring at the ground.

"He'll get better…he'll…"

"Shh. It'll be alright."

"He has to be better…he has to…" I said aloud as I felt the arms of one of the nurses hold me close. I buried my head into her shoulder, my eyes still feeling irritated but didn't want to rub them anymore.

"Looks like she's been crying the whole time…"

"Yeah…can you get some water or some fruit for her? Poor girl. Must be hard to see one of your best friends dying before your very eyes."

"Scott will get better…you'll see…he'll come to my party like he always has."

_You'll see…_

* * *

To Be Continued…

There we go! Done with the Julie Powers chapter! Julie was an interesting character to write due to her stubbornness and inability to show any kind of emotion other than 'angry'. In this chapter, I tried my best to keep her the 'proud' girl that she is while also hinting that she's also suffering on the outside. Anywho, hope you enjoy the chapter! Please review below aaaaand…

Until Next Time…!


	8. We Had Fun

**From Voice4TheMute: After much anticipation and waiting, I'm proud to present the guest chapter by paranoia456. I also want to take this time to thank him and TrixieStix for all the hard work. They took time out of their busy schedule to do these guest chapters so I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.**

**AN from Paranoia456: Sup dudes and dudetts. It's paranoia456 here. Yeah, I've been very quiet recently. All because of real life stuffs... For those of you who are wondering about my story Ramona Flowers Versus the Memories, do not despair. It's not completely dead. I'm just taking a huge break from it. Know that I've wrote this chapter in bits and pieces over a very long period of time. Short version: my story is not dead and will be eventually updated, but you'll have to be patient with me people. **

**Anyways, here's my chapter of everyone's favorite gay dude, Wallace Wells. **

_Voice4TheMute proudly presents the guest chapter by Paranioa456_

_Paranoia456 presents..._

_The Final Farewell 021: We Had Fun_

Wallace hated hospital. The colour of the wall, the doctors and the whole atmosphere of it. It unnerved him. Today was no exception.

It took him several hours to gain the courage to visit Scott. He knew this wasn't going to be a simple 'hello-how are you?-goodbye' visit. This was probably going to be the last time he ever saw Scott, and he despised the idea of 'final farewell'.

But Scott was, as Wallace once said, his bitch. He was not going to say goodbye to Scott to his gravestone. No. He had to do this in person.

He took a deep breath, and entered Scott's room.

* * *

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you actually going to say something?"

That broke me out of my trance. Then I realized that I've been standing by the door staring at Scott for over a minute now.

It was strange seeing Scott lying on the bed like this... Scott Pilgrim, the greatest fighter in the province, lying on the bed, dying of God knows what. The irony of the situation was overwhelming. Scott Pilgrim... KO'd... by disease. I thought with a body and strength such as his, he'd live through to see his 200th birthday.

"Uh...," Yeah, that's a good way to start. "How are you doing, guy?"

I realized how stupid that sounded. Damn. I'm supposed to be good at talking. Fortunately, Scott didn't seem to mind the dumb question.

"Fine...," came the short reply. I literally felt a small part of me die as he said that. Everyone knew that most of the time, 'fine' actually meant 'not fine'. _Especially when they are dying of illness that cannot be cured..._

No. I was being too pessimistic. _Come on Wallace. Snap out of it. _

"Listen... Scott," I spoke. "This disease you're carrying... Isn't there any way to cure it?" It was a pointless question. Who was I kidding? Ramona clearly said that Scott's condition was NOT going to improve.

Scott grimaced. "Dunno. I don't even know what it is. Worst case scenario is that I have somehow contracted sexually transmitted disease but we both know that's highly unlikely...,"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Same old Scott, saying something stupid when the time isn't right. But it was strangely relieving to see that Scott's old personality hasn't been diminished. "Anyone visit you lately?"

"Well bunch of people visited me the other day... Why weren't you here yesterday?"

_Because I wasn't ready for this? _"...Work. You understand, right?"

"Right...,"

I closed the door behind me before I walked closer to Scott's bed. I took one more glance at Scott before sighing, "It's strange... We've been through so much together and during that time I always thought you would be able to withstand lots of life-threatening things that got thrown to you. I mean, do you remember that time in college when I took you out to the bar and we got so drunk that we nearly woke everyone in your street up? I swear you drank about twice as many martinis than me, and I was barely standing while you were merely buzzed in the head...,"

"Yeah... that...," Scott chuckled, but it sounded hollow to my ears. "I had the worst case of headache when I woke up and you were lying next to me... half naked...,"

"Yeah...," I said. "You know, before I met you I was kind of a loner. And before you say otherwise, it's true. Many other guys in high school thought I was a freak because I had a strange attraction towards same sex and got bullied a lot for it. Hell, I had to hang out with girls to even have someone to talk to. But when I met you... you didn't act hostile or whatsoever towards me even though it was very apparent that I was, cough, hitting on you... I dunno. Call me silly if you want, but I felt some sort of bond between us. And not necessarily in a gay way."

"So that's why you kept on following me to my house?" Scott asked. "You could've just asked to be my friend,"

"Yeah, but what's the fun in that?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Anyways, we had so much fun together. Right? You had your first worst headache in the morning scenario because of me... Yeah, good times. We even played video games together every possible time when we weren't busy. Remember? I think, in my opinion, those were the best time I had in college. To have someone I could call 'friend' hanging out with me despite my somewhat off sexuality...," I trailed off.

Apparently Scott caught my expression. "Wallace? What's up with the sudden silence?"

I remained quiet. All that reminiscing was almost threatening me to burst into tears. I remembered the time we chatted about other boys, played Sonic the Hedgehog on Genesis, got drunk... And when Envy dumped him, I was there for him. He came to me for support because he believed me to be his true friend. When Ramona disappeared, I was also there for him. When all seemed lost with evil exes, I was there for him... To lead Scott towards becoming a better fighter and to some degree, a better person.

To think that after few weeks, I would never have that sort of moment with Scott again...

For a very long time, I've been Scott's trainer. Six years, I think... I've seen Scott rising from an ordinary fighter from the best brawler in the province under my direction. But when the pupil dies, the master would feel sad and lonely. It's just like that. Just thinking about the fact that the entire six years of training would not be able to help Scott rid of the sickness that's slowly killing him... What an ironic fate...

I just don't understand. Why would God want to take away Scott this early? Scott doesn't deserve this. I expected Scott to die peacefully in bed with old age, surrounded by his loved ones and laughing at the good times he had when he was young. Not this.

"Dude...," Scott's voice broke me out of my trail of thoughts. "If you're blaming yourself for what's happened to me... don't." I looked at him, confused. "You really shouldn't think aloud, especially when you're thinking about emotional stuff like that..."

"You did all you could as my mentor... But you couldn't have prevented my illness, not even with your... ahem, supernatural gay power... You have nothing to feel bad about."

I took all the things Scott told me... and I burst out laughing. "Heh, well that's a relief isn't it?" I said with a mild humor injected in my voice. "For a moment there I thought you were going to blame me for all of this. But hey, I'm actually glad to hear that I've been such a good mentor to you. I always thought the air juggling (NOTE: SEE VOLUME 1) was going to be useless skill, but you proved me wrong! Well thanks for that. That really puts the weight off of my shoulder."

"Thank God," Scott chuckled. "I thought you were gone for a moment there. I don't like it when you're serious. It's just... it's just not you,"

_Same old Scott... _

"Yeah well...," I scratched my head. "Listen. I just want you to know that whatever you want, just ask. You want me to bring your PSP over? Cause I can totally do that. Or... do you want to get drunk again... Wait, that's a bad idea. So basically, I'm willing to get anything you desire,"

"Uh...," Scott looked at me weirdly. "You don't really have to do that for me... I don't actually 'desire' much lately...,"

"Did I say 'desire?" I asked. Scott nodded, and i felt my cheek blushing. "Slip of a tongue...,"

"You're definitely gayer than Elton John," Scott grinned.

"Yeah, that's right," I said. "But honestly though, I want to make the remaining days of your life an easy one. So, whatever you want, just ask. Okay?"

"If you insist...," Scott said.

I stood up. "All righty then... I'm glad we talked. Really makes me feel better, y'know? Talking about good old days and all... Fun, fun, fun,"

"Are you going to come back and see me again anytime soon?" Scott asked. I didn't know the answer to that question... I had no idea when he was going to die actually. Days? Weeks? Months? _Would he still be alive when I manage to visit him again? _

"Yeah... sure...," I murmured. Then I brightened up again, almost too forcefully. "But remember, my cell phone is always on!"

I was about to leave when Scott's voice stopped me, "Hey Wallace...,"

I turned around and saw a smile on Scott's face. "...thanks for coming by...,"

I nodded. "No problem, guy... You're still my bitch, remember?"

Then I closed the door behind me. As soon as Scott was out of my sight, I began to ran. Ran down the hallway, all the way out to the main entrance. I didn't stop to catch my breath, not even once. All that time, I had a smile on my face. I thought about all the times I spent with Scott once again.

_When Scott hit rock bottom after Ramona left..._

_When Scott was kicked out of the house... _

_When Scott was fighting Matthew Patel and Lucas Lee..._

_When Scott agreed to move in with me... _

_When Scott beat me at my own game of Sonic the Hedgehog... _

_When I 'invaded' Scott's house_

_...When I first spoke to him in the class... _

Suddenly, I stopped running.

I found myself staring at the run-down door in the middle of an empty street... It had a new tenant and the door lock may have been changed... but it was still the same place as it has been all this time... A place where Scott and I used to live... used to have a poor but cool life...

...and the tears began to fall...

...I made no attempt to stop it.

* * *

**AN2: I hope you enjoyed it. Don't know how much emotional impact it had but at least I managed to finish it... **

**AN3: I'd like to let everyone know that paranoia456 will never again write a guest chapter for anyone... Okay, I'm kidding but don't expect me to say 'yes' when you ask me to be a guest author. Voice4TheMute happened to be a good friend of mine who asked nicely and bribed me with candies and chocolates (...Why are you looking at me like that?)**

**Voice4TheMute: But they were damn good chocolates. Good luck in future stories paranioa456. Wishing you the best of luck!**


	9. The Real Sadness

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

A/N: With finals and Fanime 2011 officially over, I now have free time to finish up this and other stories that I started halfway through my spring semester. Summer is a good time for stories and I have a lot of stories to tell. But first, let's finish this one.

* * *

_Voice4TheMute Presents _

"Do you guys here that?" Stephen asked as everyone in the waiting room perked their heads up. It wasn't loud…at least at first, but soon it got louder and louder. Stephen, Stacy, Neil, and Knives all moved towards the window that looked out of the hospital to see a black stretch limousine driving up to the front.

"Well, it's no ambulance. But who would come in a limousine?" Stacy said out loud as they tried their best to look down five stories to identify the person coming out of the limo. If it wasn't hard enough, flocks of people started to rush the car, all coming from the sidewalks as if they were following the it the entire time. Soon, it was hard to tell the person that came out of the limo from the people that crowded it.

"I…I can't see a thing. What's with the paparazzi? Who the hell is here?" Stephen asked as their heads started to dart around, trying to see who the famous person was.

"Envy…"

They all turned around to see Kim at the doorway, leaning against it.

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranioa456_

"Envy? As in Envy Adams?"

"What is she doing here? I mean…why is she even here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kim asked as she got off of the doorway and walked to an empty chair. "She's here to see Scott."

"Yeah but…why? I mean, she left him to be a big rock star." Stephen said as he sat back down. "She left Scott and me behind to go live it big. Why would she care about Scott now?"

"You really don't know women, Stephen. Sure, Scott and Envy's relationship may be over…but that doesn't mean that the connection isn't there. All relationships…no matter how messy, clean, hurtful, or enjoyable it was… it doesn't just disappear without a trace. Does it mean she still cares for him? I don't know…but if you knew someone that played a huge role in your life was dying, wouldn't you go see him?" No one responded right away. Mostly because they knew Kim was right. "…besides. I'm the one that called her."

"Wait, why?" Stephen asked.

"…maybe she needs to make her peace with him as well."

_The Final Farewell 022: The Real Sadness_

"_This better be good Katie. You have some nerve calling me during my very busy schedule."_

"_It's Kim. And first of all, I wouldn't even dream of calling you if I didn't think it was important. Though killing your free time does seem like fun."_

"_Please get to the point. I have to be back in Montreal for a concert."_

"…_Scott Pilgrim is dying, Envy. He's at the Toronto Hospital in the main city."_

_I couldn't believe what I just heard. Was this some kind of sick joke? Some kind of trap? Maybe they were trying to pull a fast one on me so that they can talk to me or corner me to answer some questions. Well, whatever they're up to they won't get me that easily!_

"_What kind of joke is that? 'Scott is dying.' That is the most pathetic excuse to get me back in Toronto I've ever heard."_

"_Look Envy. I'm not saying you should come. Hell, I think everyone is better off that you don't come. I'm just saying, from a person that once held Scott close, that Scott is dying and if you want to see him before he passes on…"_

"…"

"…_then I suggest you get here ASAP."_

_And with that, the phone died and I was left alone in my room, my phone still pressed up against my ear. Was she really trying to pull a fast one on me? How did she get my number? I bet it was that gossipy bitch, Julie that gave her my number. I knew I shouldn't have given it to her. But her voice…something about it made it feel…real._

"_Envy, the limo is good to go. Ready to go back to Montreal?" I heard my manager, Alex Ratul, say to me through my hotel door. I got up and walked to the door. _

"_Change of plans. I'm not going to Montreal."_

"_What? What about your show? We had a deal!"_

"_My friend is dying!" I yelled through the door. It was the first time I used that word in relation to Scott Pilgrim. It felt weird saying it, but it was an impulsive choice of words. "And I'm going to go see him!"_

"_Envy, you are on a schedule. If you duck out of this show, people will get upset. You'll lose fans. Popularity. Money."_

"_I don't care! Either I get to Toronto, or I don't go anywhere at all!" I yelled at him through the door. There was a moment of silence before I heard my manager's voice again._

"…_fine! We'll go see your 'friend'. But only for thirty minutes you go that! Then back on the road!"_

_It wasn't the best bargaining I've done before, but it was a moral victory for me. Afterall, that was the first time I ever got what I wanted out of my manager in the years of knowing him._

"Envy? What are you doing here?"

The voice snapped me out of my trance as I saw Ramona Flowers, the girl that is currently dating Scott and also the girl that my lifelong friend Todd Ingram cheated on me with. Her face still makes my blood boil, but I guess I should give her the benefit of the doubt. Who knows what could be going through her head right now.

"I've come to see Scott."

"…why?"

"None of your business. Do I have to go ask the front desk for Scott's room number or will you be kind enough to give it to me?" I asked her, not wanting to wait around. Afterall, I'm on a time table now. Ramona continued to stare at me as I stared right back at her with the same intensity. Finally, she closed her eyes and turned her back towards me.

"Room 504."

"Thank you." I said to her as I walked towards the elevator and manage to catch an elevator right before it fully closed. I paid no attention to the people in the elevator that were adoring me, asking for my autograph, and taking pictures on their camera phone. My mind was set on seeing Scott.

_Just because Ramona is here doesn't mean Scott is dying. He's probably overrating over something stupid…like he always does. There's no way to tell unless I see it for myself._

As the elevator made to the fifth floor, I headed straight to the room with the small posse of people that followed me from the elevator.

"Envy! I love you!"

"What are you doing here Envy? Are you seeing someone?"

"This place is a germ factory Envy! You need to get out of this disease hole and go somewhere that's clean!"

"WILL YOU STOP FOLLOWING ME?" I turned and yelled at the pack of people that were still following me. Usually these people don't annoy me. But this time…it was different. "I mean…please leave me alone. I'm here to see…a friend." I said to him as I saw that I was a few doors away from room 504. I made haste and quickly slipped behind the door and held it close with my body, making sure no one burst into the room.

"Envy! Who's in there? Is he ok?"

"Wait Envy! Let us in as well! We must keep you safe!"

"We love you Envy."

_God damn, when did fans become sooo annoying?_

"…Envy?"

The voice caught me off guard. I felt my eyes widen and my heart rate quicken as a familiar voice filled my head. I turned my head to see Scott Pilgrim looking at me, five or six machines currently monitoring his health…maybe even keeping him alive. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. Scott Pilgrim was dying. And here I am…completely unprepared to cope with it.

"Envy. What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What am I doing here! I'm…" I started to yell but then I held it back. Scott didn't deserve a yelling. He was always oblivious to these things. But to be this dumb, even when his life is at stake, was hard to believe. "…I'm here to see you, you idiot." I said to him as I locked the door and started to make my way towards the chair that was next to his bed.

"Wow…I haven't seen you since Gideon. How've you-"

"Scott, what the hell is wrong with you? How did you end up like this?" I asked, interrupting his friendly ice breaker.

"I…I don't know. They told me that I got something that's slowly shutting down my body. Don't know if it's a virus or something. They didn't tell me much after that. Truthfully, I don't think they even know what is going on." Scott said to me as I took a seat next to him. I kept my arms and legs crossed as I stared coldy at him. "So you really came to see me, Envy?"

"…yes." I admitted to him. Now that I'm seeing Scott face to face, it was hard to keep the persona up. The persona of a fiercely independent person that is praised by many…hell, even worshiped. There was no need to be her…not in front of Scott. "A little red bird told me you were here."

"You mean a little blue bird." Scott tried to correct me but I shook my head.

"No…red. Definitely red." I said to him, averting my attention away from him.

"Well…Thanks Envy. It means a lot that-"

"Can you stop that? Please?"

"Stop what?"

"Envy. Stop calling me Envy. At least for today." I said to him. There was a moment of silence between us. He was confused but I couldn't tell for sure. I had my vision away from him. I knew if I continued to look at him in his weak, helpless state, then I would probably break down myself. "…It hurts sometimes when you say that to me."

"But you wanted me to call you that. Ever since college I-"

"Yes, I did want you to call me that. It had a nice ring to it. Envy Adams. It's just a stage name to disguise the true person behind it. I'm the envy of the world…people envy to be me. Envy Adams. The biggest thing to hit Canada since powdered milk." I vented as I kept my head low, thinking of what a name could do to a person's reputation.

"Ok…Natalie."

I felt nice hearing that name again. It felt really nice that Scott was saying it to me. The persona of Envy Adams was slowly fading away. The pop culture hit, Envy Adams, was slowly melting away…leaving behind Natalie V. Adams, the girl that once lived a very simple, if not dark, life. The sudden enjoyment of nerdy and anime-related things came back to me as I felt a smile crept up on my face as I looked back at Scott, feeling a lot better now that I can face him as the person I once was and not as the person that betrayed her best friends.

"Things were so simple back then. We were all freshmen, doing our own things. I just wanted to be left alone but my annoy roommate wanted to go out and 'see the world' as she liked to put it. Crazy, sightseeing, live-in-the-moment, type of girl Julie was. She did her best to include me into her little 'plans' and 'parties' but I've always been resilient to them. I just wanted to sit in my room and keep my life simple. As least that was the plan until I met you guys."

"Stephen and I met you through Julie. He brought us back to your room to see you eating Pocky and looking at web comics. You're room as so cluttered with nerdy stuff and your hair was amazingly long…" Scott said as I shook my head, mostly embarrassed on how I looked and acted back then.

"Truthfully, you two were as 'guy-ish' as anyone can get."

"What do you mean 'guy-ish'?"

"I mean you two were talking about girls, staring a band, talking about music…you know, acting like guys. Julie saw you two as a ticket to popularity. Boy was she off by a long shot. I saw you two as just meat heads that hung around Julie."

"Well she did feed us from time to time. And she was the only one that would hang out with us on campus. She really liked the idea of the band." Scott said to me as I nodded.

"She was completely sold on the idea. But she couldn't play. Well, correction…she couldn't play in front of a crowd. She had some basics of piano. You know…like everyday knowledge of a piano. Notes, how to read music, that kind of thing. She also had a keyboard in which she used to play for fun in the dorm room. She really wanted to join you guys but as the time, she really didn't feel comfortable playing in front of people…let alone me. Kinda ironic when you think about it."

"But then we heard you're singing one day."

"And that's when my life did a full back flip." I said, sighing a bit. "That's when my quiet life started its incline to becoming one of Canada's top signers and performers. You guys were walking back to the dorm room and you caught me singing to a song with my headphones on. You guys instantly started talking to me, wondering if I took any acting or singing lessons…"

"Then Stephen asked if you wanted to join our 'band'." Scott said.

"Heh, if you could consider it a band. Guitar, drums, vocals. No other instruments. Just three people with the desire to play. I was taken back by the offer. I never would have considered starting a band. I didn't even know the first thing about them. But I reluctantly joined because…" I started and then looked up at Scott. We made eye contact, but it was Scott that broke the connection.

"…yeah…"

"Never been in another relationship other than Todd. You just…I don't know…you just seem like a good guy. Maybe not as crazy or wild as Stephen, but you took things as they come. You rolled with the punches that life gave you. Lived in the moment, but cautious about the future at the same time. You had this eagerness about you that I liked…and I wanted to get to know you better. It may be a selfish reason to join the band…but then again what action isn't motivated by selfish desires. So I had Julie teach me the basics of her keyboard and I joined you guys, thinking it would be a healthy hobby to get into…and to get to know you better Scott."

"…but you betrayed us in the end."

It hurt to hear him say that. There were other words to describe what I did, but 'betrayed' was probably the worse yet accurate word to describe it.

"If you were in my shoes…" I started but then unable to finish my sentence. I knew Scott wouldn't have sold out his friends like I did. He wasn't doing it for the fame or the money. He and Stephen wanted to play. "…nevermind." I said, rubbing my face with my hand. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…I'm sorry." This caught Scott off guard. It must have. He didn't respond for a good two minutes.

"…you're sorry?"

"Take it at face value or not…but I am sorry. You know…for the band and stuff…" I said, looking away from him. "I actually owe you a lot more than you would know. It was because of the band that I got to where I am today. I'm not saying that what I did was ok. All I'm saying is that what I did…I did it for the band."

"So signing to a major label, adding more people to the band, abandoning Stephen and me…?"

"I'm sorry Scott. I really am. Whether or not you believe me is up to you."

"Well…by the sound of your voice you don't seem sorry." Scott said to me as I saw him shift his body away from me. It hurt to see him react that was towards me. But he has every right to act that way. I did asked people to join the band to add variety…I did sign the band to a major label…I did abandon Stephen and Scott to move the band forward. I took the dream and idea of a fun, rocking band away from them and molded it in a way that would benefit me. It was a selfish act…but then again what act isn't selfish. I looked at my watch and saw that my thirty minutes were almost up. Even though I didn't want to go, I still had a job I need to do.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry Scott…and thank you. Without you or Stephen's band idea, I wouldn't be where I am today. Also…I wanted to say sorry. For…everything." I told him as I got up and headed towards the door. "I just…wanted to make sure I saw the guy that knew me before…well, me."

"Natalie, wait."

"Yes Scott?"

"Was it really all for the band?"

"…of course. It was all for the band." I said to him. "Good-bye Scott. I'll be back in Toronto in a month. Try to stay alive." I unlocked the door and opened it, only to be greeted by the paparazzi again.

"Envy! Who's in there? Was it a friend? Tell us!"

"We love you Envy!"

"Envy, is it true that the person in there has terminal cancer and his last dying wish is for him to see you in person?"

Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I could no longer be the exposed, soft person I was in that room. I had to become Envy Adams…the iconic image of Canada. A cool, sophisticated, bitchy person who thrives from the cries of her fans. It's my job to entertain. At least…now it's my job to entertain.

"It was a favor for a friend. That is all." I lied to them as I pushed my way past the crowd and started to walk down the hallway. The crowds of people were slowly coming up behind me. I quickly turned my head and glared at them which easily halted their progress. One of the most beneficial things about being popular is that a simple glare can ward off pesky fans. "I'm heading to the restroom. Don't you dare follow me!" I lied in a menacing way so that I can have a peaceful walk back to my car. The pack of people nodded in agreement as they slowly started to disperse.

_What wrong with me. I can't even admit to the people that I'm visiting a dying friend. Have I really developed a split personality? Scott…the last person to see the true me. _

"_I couldn't help but overhear your little performance."_

I heard a voice coming from an empty hospital room. The voice was familiar. But what was more familiar was the voice that responded.

"_And who exactly are you? And why are you spying on me?" _I heard myself respond. I walked into the empty room to see myself and another person standing in front of me.

_What is going on? Have I lost my mind?_

"_Well, it's hard not to spy on you when you and your band are playing that loud in the dorm rooms." _The man responded to the vision of me. She had long hair, a red and white striped shirt, and blue faded jeans. It was my outfit of choice back then…back in college.

"_That's not answering my question. Who are you and why are you here?" I heard myself interrogate the man in front of her._

"_I'm sorry. My name is Alex Ratul. I work for a record label company in Montreal. My friend on this campus informed me about a band that has a good beat going for them and a very talented vocalist so I came here to scout."_

"_You're with a record company?"_

"_That's correct. And I must say…I am impressed on what I heard so far. I mean, there is room from improvement, but I am digging your voice. Its pitch perfect. Any kind of training behind it?"_

"_N-no. No training. Just…singing I suppose."_

"_Well, let me get right to the point. I'm sure you're a busy college student. I'm interested in you guys. Kid Chameleon, right? I think you guys have potential. If you can get your guitarist and your drummer to refine their technique, then you guys have a shot at stardom."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah. But you do have to…um…work on your appearance. No offense, but your clothes reflect who you are. I'm not saying that you look bad! Just saying…maybe it's time for some 'cooler' looking clothes. Sell some of these things around your room. Maybe it's worth a few bucks."_

I slowly backed away from the room as the visions of my manager and me faded away. I remember that day. I was in my room when someone knocked on my door. Alex was there and he basically offered the band a record deal. I wanted to tell the others…but to tell them to play better…it was hard to do. Afterall, it's their band. Who am I to tell them to play better? I kept walking down the hallway towards the elevator when another pair of familiar voices echoed out of a hospital room.

"_Hmm…I like the variety that was added to the band."_

"_Yeah, I had to call in a few friends to help out the band. Made some changes on the line up. But hey, now we have more than just guitar and drums, right?" I heard my voice say to Alex again._

"_Indeed…indeed. The music is more refined and you are singing like the beautiful songbird that you are. But…the guitarist and your bass player. Stephen and Scott? They seem to be…lagging behind like the rest of them."_

"_But…they're the founding members of the band. I mean…can't there be an exception for them?"_

"_Well…I'll let it slide for now. But if they don't improve next week, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to reconsider my offer to you-"_

"_No! Please! I'll…I'll talk to them. You'll see! They can be better. Just don't reconsider the deal. I'll get the band ready. Like you said, we have a shot at stardom, right?"_

"_We'll see…"_

I quickly walked toward past the room. I didn't want to hear anymore. The reminder of what I did in the past was slowly catching up. The sins of my past were trying to punish me for my decisions. I wanted to escape. I had to get out of there. I had to move before…!

"_Envy…" _I heard Alex's voice call from a room. I didn't bother to stop this time. I kept on walking. But the voices didn't go away.

"_Yes Alex?"_

"_There isn't an improvement from those two."_

"…_I know."_

"_Well…I really think you guys are good. And I WANT to sign you guys. But those two are holding you back. If you want this offer…"_

"_I get it…"_

"_I'm not being the bad guy here. But the company won't allow anything short of greatness. You understand. You're a dime and dozen. I'm sure you're friends will understand. This is your big break. If anything, they should be excited for you."_

"_But Stephen and Scott…"_

"_Don't worry about them. Worry about yourself! You're going to be big! You're going to be famous!"_

I didn't want to hear anymore. I found myself running to the elevator and rapidly pressed the down button, hoping the elevator will come soon. But more voices echoed throughout the hospital.

"_You asked him to join? Cole? Are you serious?"_

"_He's a good drummer, Stephen. We want to be good, right?"_

"_What am I going to play?"_

"_You can play bass. Stephanie is switching to bongos and viola."_

"Come on you stupid elevator. Come faster!" I yelled at the closed door while repeated pressing the button.

"_We're signing it. He's coming over here in like fifteen minutes."_

"_I don't want to sign it."_

"_okay, sure. See you later, then."_

"_This was my band! I started it! You just joined it! As founder, I veto the stupid contract!"_

"_Well, it's you know, completely out of your hands."_

"_Damn it! I knew I should have run for band president instead of secretary!"_

"_Ha ha ha ha ha. Get a haircut, okay? Just go away."_

"_You know, I started this thing to meet chicks and have fun! When did it turn into a 'band'? Did I just meet the wrong chicks?"_

"I'm sorry Scott…but he wouldn't sign you guys if you stayed. I had to get you out of the band somehow…" I whispered to myself as the elevator finally came. I quickly got inside and pressed the lobby button. "But I knew you still had feeling for me. I knew I had to end it…"

"_I…uh…I got a haircut. See?"_

…

…

…

"_Get out of my life, Scott."_

I felt it. The cold reminder if what I had to do to get to where I am. The people I stepped on…the sacrifices I had to make to myself and other people. Why I had to end it with Scott. I felt the cold reminder as it slowly fell from my eyes and down my cheeks.

"Dammit…I didn't mean to be a bitch to you Scott. I didn't want to kick you out. I just wanted to move the band forward. It was all for the band. It always has…"

"…_Natalie? Natalie Adams?"_

"_Hey Lawrence. I know it must be weird for me to be here." _

"_Well…you did break my brother's heart and he's yet to get over you. What are you doing here? Scott's not home right now."_

"_I…um…I wanted to give him this."_

"_What is this? Is that a guitar?"_

"_Sort of. It's a bass guitar. A Rickenbacker 4003…"_

"_A Rickenbacker 4003? That's like… over two thousand dollars. Even more!"_

"_Yeah. The venue that we did a few nights ago paid well and…I just wanted to make amends."_

"_Natalie. I really don't think a guitar will make amends. I mean, you did a number to his psyche."_

"_Look. I'm not saying what I did was right. I just….I just want to clear my conscious. Just take the guitar please. Give it to him, say that it's yours. Just please take it. I…I can't stand what I did to him. And I know that after today…I may not be able to do this again."_

"_Natalie. Why are you doing this?"_

"…_because Scott is probably the last person that has see the real me. The real Natalie V. Adams. After today…I start my tour around Canada as Envy Adams. I'm not sure if I'll ever be that girl in the past. Just…give it to him ok? You don't have to tell him it's from me. Just give it to him."_

I wiped away the tears that were still coming down my face before feeling the elevator coming to a halt. I quickly reached into my bad and took out my sunglasses and put them on, hoping it will hide any signs that I was crying. As the door opened, I was attacked by the paparazzi once more.

"Envy! Envy! We heard you were going to do another tour around Canada! Is it true?"

"Who did you visit? Was it a friend?"

"Envy! Can I have your autograph? Maybe even a lock of your hair?"

"Get away from me you peons. If you want to see me, call my manager." I said to them as I forcibly pushed my way past the crowd and headed to the limo. But no matter what barrier I put up…no matter what persona I take…I couldn't stop the tears that were escaping my eyes.

_All I wanted was to move the band to bigger and better things. It was going to be Stephen, Scott, and I making it big together. _

_It was all for the band._

_It always was._

* * *

To Be Continued…

Well! There we go! The Envy Adams chapter! Truthfully, this was a difficult chapter to right since…well, there was only one book devoted to her and for the most part, she was a hateful bitch. When analyzing this chapter, I was thinking to myself, "were Envy's intentions good?" Hopefully this chapter will paint her as a good girl rather than the bitch that she was depicted. Anywho…

Super special shoutout to ApellaZant, a very talented Scott Pilgrim writer. He has beautifully written stories up right now, some even referencing my stories so please go check it out. You won't regret it.

Until Next Time…!


	10. Promised Land

_Voice4TheMute Proudly Presents_

I can't believe he's dying! We've known each other forever it seems like, I don't know if I can face him after all that I've done; all the mistakes, all the heartbreak, all the deception. Will he even want to see my face?"

"There is only one way to find out," A male figure forebodingly said as he pointed at a hospital door.

A gulp was loud enough to be heard as a blonde female walked slowly to the door. Opening it ever so slowly she somberly asked, "Hello, do you remember me old buddy?"

"How can I forget?"

The two exchange awkward smiles as… "CUT, CUT, CUT! This is all wrong!"

_The Guest Chapter by TrixieStixs_

"What's a matter Mr. Wright? Did I miss my cue or something?" The blonde woman asked, not quite sure what she did wrong.

"Lisa, baby, how many times do I have to tell you, just call me Egor. And no, you hit all your cues just fine. It's just that… there is something missing, I can't put my finger on it though. I might have to cut you out of the script." Egor said as he didn't even look Lisa Miller when he said it, in fact he seemed to be staring off into space as he said his statement.

Lisa then tried to gain her director's attention by waving her hands frantically in front of his eyes, this action seemed to work. Once Lisa felt that Egor got the picture she then asked him, "But Egor, I'm one of the main characters in the script. You can't just write me out of the script, can you?"

"Lisa, if there's one thing I pride myself on it's my ability to edit. I once adapted this comic book-"

"Alright, I get it. I'm expendable," Lisa said nervously.

"Hey, cheer up, I'll tell you what. I'll give you a few days to try and get into character. Because right now it seems like you can't fill the shoes this role calls for. And I like you," Director Wright said with a grin.

"Thank you Mr. Wright, I won't let you down!"

Egor's smile then faded as he then took on a more serious tone and said, "Besides I heard Rehab isn't so bad."

"But-"

"I said, it's not that bad!"

**Later…**

"Stupid Egor, stupid rehab, stupid Hollywood, stupid life." Lisa mumbled as she began walking towards the kitchen in her tiny, and shitty, apartment. The apartment itself wasn't _that_ bad. I mean sure every actress dreams of moving to Hollywood and getting a one room apartment in the middle of the slums.

Making her way to the kitchen she opened her fridge and grabbed a pint of ice-cream, one of those way to expensive pints of that Ben & Jerry's stuff._ If I can't live like a star at least I'll eat like one! _Lisa thought to herself as she grabbed a spoon and lethargically made her way to her couch. She slumped down onto it when she finally made it to her destination and grabbed the remote. Turning on the T.V she flipped through a couple of channels, finally deciding to leave it on a sappy romance movie. You know the ones, where two people overcome massive odds and sexual, and awkward, tension to live happily ever after. _Is this really what my life has come to? Did I come all the way out here to eat ice-cream and watch sappy romance movies?_ But before Lisa could belittle herself more her cell-phone began to ring. She quickly picked it up and looked down to see who was calling. A smile then appeared as she answered, "Kim you won't believe, how crappy of a day I'm having, I'm so glad you-" Lisa suddenly stopped mid-sentence as her mouth fell open.

It seemed Karma was one cruel bitch.

_The Final Farewell 023: Promised Land_

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LEAVING?" Lisa Miller yelled in shock, as she shook a brown haired boy by the shoulders.

"I'm leaving to Toronto is what it means," the boy said, not even looking Lisa in the face.

"When?" Desperation clearly coming through her voice now, as she said the one-worded question.

"Tomorrow,"

Two tears slowly rolled down Lisa's face as she quickly wiped them away with her shoulders. "Why Scott? Why am I the last to know? Couldn't you have at least given me a couple days notice? I mean I'm your best friend… right?" Lisa's face showed the internal battle that she was waging against her emotions. She was doing everything in her power not to let the tears she had at the cusps of her eyelids free. Lisa succeeded in that endeavor, although because she was so focused on not crying she didn't notice that she was still shaking Scott in desperation.

"You're not the last Lisa," Scott said with shame in his voice as he looked away from his blonde friend.

"NO! Scott? Please tell me that means what I think it means? Please tell me you told her," Lisa pleaded as she shook her dear friend harder.

Scott lightly pulled her hands off of him before answering, "You know I'm no good at these kind of things Lisa."

"Then what are you doing talking to me? You need to go tell her right-"

"Can you tell her for me Lisa?" Scott cut her off, with an emotionless tone as he finally made eye contact with his high school friend.

"What?" Was all Lisa could mutter, shock clearly audible in her tone as she stared into Scott's eyes.

"You're her best friend."

"And you're her boyfriend Scott!"

Scott just put his hand on Lisa's shoulder before pleading, "Please… Lisa… I just can't do it, consider it a last request."

"Don't talk like we're never going to see each other again. Just, fine Scott, she's going to hate you forever though." Lisa answered with a somber smile, trying to lighten the otherwise dreary mood.

Scott smiled back before saying, "Thanks Lisa, you're a real lifesaver!"

"What are friends for?" The two then share a small laugh.

**Later…**

"Is everything okay honey? You've looked down ever since you've got back from hanging out with Scott?" A woman in her late thirties asked Lisa who was moping around before sticking her head in the fridge.

Lisa grabbed a soda and closed the fridge before answering her mother, "Yeah, I'm okay mom, it's just… Scott's leaving Northern Ontario tomorrow. And he wants me to tell Kim, I don't know how I'm going to do it, I don't know why he isn't doing it, I can't even believe he's really leaving."

Before Lisa ran out of breath her mom butted in by saying, "Lisa… calm down, you really get flustered to easily dear. Everything is going to work out just fine, trust me."

Lisa just let out a heavy sigh before responding, "I know mom, it's just all so sudden and it's not fair, I don't want him to leave."

"Life isn't fair Lisa, you've got to take the good with the bad in it. When you become an old woman like me you'll understand." Lisa's mother said with a chuckle.

"Whatever mom," Lisa said with a gigantic eye-roll before heading up to her bedroom.

Lisa rushed up the stairs and closed the door behind her, letting out a deep sigh she fell back first onto her bed. Rolling to her right she stared at the phone that was sitting on her nightstand and thought to herself._ What have I gotten into? What am I going to say? Is she going to hate me? Why did I have to say yes to Scott? Why do I always say yes to Scott?_ Lisa then rolled onto her belly stuck her head into a pillow and let out a great moan before reaching for the phone and dialing Kim Pine's number.

"Hey Lisa, what's up?"

"It's Scott…"

"What about Scott?"

"Please don't hate me!"

"Lisa, tell me what's going on."

"Scott's moving to Toronto tomorrow."

"…"

"…"

"You're joking right?"

"I'm sorry Kim, it's not a joke, I'm sorry, I'm just sorry."

"Why would he tell you before me Lisa? Why would he not tell me…"

"I don't know, I'm sorry!"

"Don't talk to me Lisa." (CLICK)

"…"

"… Kim, you there?"

"Kim?"

"_**Lisa, what about Ramona?"**_

"_**Aren't you two having a fight?"**_

"_**Yeah…"**_

"_**Then it's fine then"**_

* * *

"Lisa, are you there? Did you hear me? Scott's dying Lisa," Kim's words could only faintly be heard in Lisa's ear.

"Your serious, aren't you Kim? So this is how you felt." Lisa said dazedly into her cell phone as confusion and shock was still plastered on her face.

Lisa heard a light sigh before hearing, "Lisa, are you going to be okay? You're not making any sense."

"I'll be fine, but Scott? What happened? How long does he have? Did you talk to him yet?" Lisa asked the barrage of questions to her longtime friend finally getting a little of her composure back.

"They still don't know what's killing him, but it's got him in bad shape they think he won't live to see the end of the week. I haven't talked to him yet, but Lisa you need to get down here as soon as possible. You are coming up here… right?" Kim answered sounding vary composed Lisa thought to herself.

"Of course I'm coming, I'll be on the next plane out of L.A." Lisa said as she got off the couch and started packing right then and there. Lisa then went on, "Well I need to get my things together, call you when I land in Toronto, bye."

"Alright, have a safe trip," Kim answered, this time worry in her voice.

And with that Lisa hung up the phone, and her bare apartment got emptier. Lisa, seemingly picked items at random out of her wardrobe as she walked around the apartment in a zombie-like state. A myriad of shirts, pant, sweaters, and skirts flew into a suitcase as if they were connected to zip-lines. When it was over Lisa had packed what looked like a year's worth of clothes into the tiny suitcase. Sitting back down on her couch Lisa noticed that the T.V was still on, and her ice-cream was still on the table at the foot of the couch. Lisa grabbed the pint and took a moderately sized spoonful before turning off the T.V with the remote. It took Lisa a moment to realize one thing, her ice-cream had no taste. Lisa's eyes filled with shock as she took bite after bite each just as tasteless as the last, until a unpleasant saltiness filled the back of her throat. Tears began flowing down Lisa's face as she dropped the spoon and ran towards her bedroom. Lisa put her face into a pillow and continued to weep until she fell asleep.

* * *

"_**You really wore that just for me?"**_

"_**Yeah, do you like it Scott?"**_

"…"_**  
**_

"_**I love it when you look at me that way…"**_

"Kim, Scott, did you know that tears taste different depending on how you get them? Like when you chop a onion or eat something spicy, they taste sweet. Or when you're angry or in pain they don't really have a taste. And the tears when you cry from being sad have a salty taste, they also say the sadder you are the saltier they taste." Lisa Miller told her friend's as they walked home from another long day at St. Joel's Catholic High School.

"And why on earth would we need to know that? Better question, why on earth do you know that?" Kim said in a dead pan tone as her right hand's fingers were intertwined with her boyfriend's. **( Kim Pine's Status: Annoyed, Uninterested, Bored, And Slightly Frisky)**

"Yeah Lisa, why do you even know that?" asked Scott as he looked over in the blondes direction.

Lisa tossed her hair back before answering, "Haven't you guys been listening to me for the past week? It's for drama, Mr. Winner told me I have great potential if I could only do the sad emotional scenes. So I went to the library to look up a bunch of stuff about crying and stuff."

"Lisa you do realize we don't pay attention half the time you talk to us right?" Kim said in a matter a fact tone to her best friend, who didn't look to pleased to hear what she had to say.

"What did you just say Lisa?" Scott asked with a blank expression, clueless like always.

"Case in point," Kim laughed.

Lisa rolled her eyes and looked away before playfully pouting, "I hate both of you! Anyway, are you guys still coming over so we can game plan for the big party this weekend? Sonic And Knuckles needs to be in top form, don't you agree?"

Scott looked like he was finally paying attention for once when he answered, "That's right, Bryan Lee's Halloween Party Extravaganza is this weekend! Sonic And Knuckles is finally ready for the big time, it's going to be awesome!"

"Come on guys, you can't be serious? It's just Bryan Lee's Halloween Party Extravaganza it's not like it's Madison Square Garden or something. And Lisa, what are we going to _game plan_? Did you actually get good at singing or something?" Kim rattled off as she rained on the parade, just like she's always doing.

"Kim you don't even realize how big of a deal this party is going to be," Lisa defended.

"Yeah, Bryan's like the best artist in all of St. Joel! This party is going to bring this band to another level," Scott said as he nodded his head in agreement with Lisa.

"Whatever," was Kim's only response.

**Lisa's Room Later That Day…**

"NO! THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I'M WEARING THAT! YOU MUST BE CRAZY LISA!" A familiar voice was yelling in the tiny room three teenagers where occupying.

"Kim, be reasonable. I mean, this isn't even that big of a difference between our school uniform. Besides, I'm band leader… and you have to do what I say!" Lisa stuck her tongue out at Kim after she said the last statement, this action didn't please the red head.

Kim then looked over to her boyfriend and demanded, "Tell her she's crazy!"

"Ugh?" **(Scott Pilgrim's Status: In Awe!)**

"Scott, Scott? You are going to agree with me… right?" Kim asked, well more like pleaded with her boyfriend.

"I think for the sake of artistic purposes you should wear the outfit," Scott muttered out robotically to his girlfriend.

Kim looked as though she was going to perform a fatality on her boyfriend before Lisa chimed in, "Calm down Kim, I mean I'm wearing one too. It's for the grand finale, the school is going to be talking about this for weeks!"

"And I'm going to be thinking about it for months!" Scott piped in as a line of drool rolled down the right side of his face.

Kim groaned before finally giving in by angrily mumbling, "fine."

Insert picture of Scott and Lisa doing a jumping high-five with an explosion behind them that makes out the word **WINNING!**

**PARTY TIME!**

"Alright, we go on in twenty, you guys ready for this? It's the big time, we pull this off and we are going to be as popular as that weird kid that ran through a cement wall head first." Lisa said wearing an all white overcoat as she put her hands on her band mate's shoulders.

"You mean the Hammer-Head? That kid totally awesome," Scott said in admiration as he did some air head-butts as he mouthed the word _hammer_. Which looked kind of creepy because he was wearing a black jacket with black pants.

Kim slapped Scott in the back of the head before berating him with, "Scott can you be serious for once? This is _actually_ a big deal!"

"Relax Kim, I know all the songs we are playing by heart… I think?" Scott said with a sly yet calming smile.

Lisa smiled at her friend before telling her, "It's okay to be nervous, hell I'm a little nervous!"

"I'm not nervous!" Kim weakly defended. **(I believe that as much as I believe someone telling me Voice4themute is writing a story that isn't set around Kim Pine… I mean what is that guy's problem *Rant Continues*… but your right I'm just jealous that I didn't come up with that Pin Name. Oh yeah, right, story and stuff)**

Scott and Lisa just nodded in unison and gave an emphatic, "Riiight!"

A random guy then pokes his head into the room the band is in and informs them, "You guys go on in five."

The band nodded as the guy went back to the party. Lisa then exhaled deeply before looking deeply into the eyes of her fellow band-mates and pumping them up by saying, "It's time to show the cool kids what we are made of!" Lisa then put her fist out, seeing this Scott and Kim put theirs out as well as they all looked at each other with determination. This simple action seemed to be all the band needed to subside their nerves, so when they final heard the distant call for them to come out to the patio where they had set up all their equipment, they were primed and ready to go.

As the three high school students took the stage, well more like deck, but I digress. The first thing they saw was a crowd of about one hundred people, the biggest they had ever played for, all waiting to see Sonic And Knuckles play their hearts out. Scott was the first one to comment on it by saying, "Wow! I'd never imagined we play in-front of this many people! It's crazy!"

Lisa had a dumbfounded expression for a few seconds before Kim snapped her out of it but simply saying, "LET'S DO THIS!"

Lisa shook her head before snapping back into reality. The crowd didn't make a sound as the trio made their way to their instruments. Lisa then nodded to a guy standing by the stage light, it was more like three flashlights duck taped together but you get my point, he acknowledged her and turned it on. Lisa then got the masses excited by telling them, "You guys ready for the party to _really_ start?" The crowd enthusiastically yells before she continues, "This a song about loving someone that you'll never going to have," Lisa slyly looks over at Scott who's face has a grin plastered on it. "But knowing that you'll always be together… in the Promised Land!"

"WE ARE SONIC AND KNUCKLES AND WE ARE HERE TO SING ABOUT LOVE AND VIDEO GAMES AND STUFF! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" Kim yelled out before beginning the song.

**Who would of thought it end before the start when we began to march ahead.**

**The slums seemed so beautiful (With you by my side)**

**My ocean of doubt subsided (By the strength of your tide)**

**I'll know I'll find it one day (With you as my guide)**

**So many words left unsaid, paths not tread, hands of red.**

**Riding on airships so high (In the Promised Land)**

**The healing wind blows right by (In the Promised Land)**

**The golden saucer is even better (In The Promised Land)**

**We'll always be together (In the Promised Land)**

**Time doesn't exists in our memories, pain is for a moment, love is forever.**

**Please don't cry I know you tried**

**Thanks to you I see it now (Far and wide)**

**Hold your head up (With pride)**

**It's okay to be afraid, wrong side of the blade, but feelings never fade**

**Riding on airships so high (In the Promised Land)**

**The healing wind blows right by (In the Promised Land)**

**The golden saucer is even better (In The Promised Land)**

**We'll always be together(In the Promised Land)**

**(Guitar Solo Goes Here)**

**Goodbye is just the start of hello (Promised Land)**

**Somewhere between the lifestream and the sky our dreams reside (Promised land)**

**We'll meet again there, In that Promised Land, We'll meet again there, In that Promised Land (Promised Land)**

The Info box that popped up from the crowd said it all **(Crowd's Mind=BLOWN!)** The crowd then began to chant, 'S.N.K, S.N.K," in a thunderous roar. Lisa, Scott, and Kim smiled triumphantly at each other they knew that the crowd was now putty in their hands. The crowd were in awe by every song they played some of which were 'Bullet Bill Blues', 'Pitfalling For You', and the show stopping 'Chaos Emeralds'. With every song they played the crowd became more and more star-struck. Lisa then looked over to the others with a look that screamed _it's time to bust out the big guns_.

"Alright guys, are you ready for the grand finale?" Lisa seductively called out to the roaring crowd, that somehow got louder after her statement. And with that the finale began, first Scott did some freaky hand signals to some guy by the flashlights; _excuse me_ I mean spot lights. The crowd was on the edge of its seat as darkness enveloped the stage. Then pyrotechnics started going off, and I use that term extremely loosely unless you call five fireworks that Scott stole out of his parent's basement you're idea of pyrotechnics that is. Then flares lit up the stage, where Sonic And Knuckles got their hand on ten flares is still a mystery. The crowd was really losing their preverbal shit, but not at all the awesome that just transpired but by what the band's wardrobe had changed to.

**Lisa Miller: Had changed in to A revealing blue mini skirt; baby blue boots; A school girl uniform with A pair of baby blue ribbons in the front and back; A golden forehead protector with a blue (fake) diamond in the center. But without a doubt the best part of her outfit was the blue pixie haircut wig she was wearing. (Status: Sailor Mercury!)**

**Kim Pine: Was the green counterpart to Lisa, the only difference was that her ribbons were pink and she just simply put her hair into a ponytail. (Status: Sailor Jupiter!)**

**Scott Pilgrim: Took off his black jacket to reveal a tuxedo T-shirt he also had a white mask that covered only the eye area of his face, he coolest part of the wardrobe though was the bitchin top hat he was wearing. (Status: Tuxedo Mask!)**

**(Band Status: 90's AS FUCK!) (Yeah, I dropped the 'F' bomb in Voice4TheMute's story, he can just DEAL WITH IT!) **

(_V4tM: whoa whoa…hope I don't get reported for this '' rated T! Rated T!)_

"Fighting evil by the moonlight," Lisa started singing, completing the whole sailor moon theme they had going by singing the theme song for it. Boys and girls were swooning and drooling from Lisa's and Kim's sailor scout uniforms. The same could be said for Scott and his Tuxedo mask ensemble, it was the beginning of the golden year for Sonic And Knuckles. Not to mention the second greatest day in Lisa Miller's life.

"_**You're so warm Lisa."**_

"_***ruffling* Thanks Scott."**_

"_**But are you sure-" Smacking of lips interrupt the statement. **_

* * *

"Welcome to Toronto everyone, I hope you had a pleasant flight." A blonde flight attendant could be heard over the intercom. Lisa let out a groan as she began stretching her arms up in the air to try and recover from the long flight she had just endured. Lethargically she retrieved her suitcase and made her way off of the airplane. Cold Canadian air was the first thing to great her on her arrival to the country._ I forgot how cold it is over here_, Lisa thought to herself as she made her way around the airport terminal.

It seemed Lisa was moving at super speeds as she bobbed and weaved through the crowded terminal. She made it to the exit, where an unfortunate surprise was waiting for her, the taxi she had called in advance for was not waiting for her. "Can this get any worse?" Lisa mumbled to herself as she went back into the airport, she would soon find out. Lisa angrily sat down on a seat as dread filled her face when she heard what was coming from the speakers around the airport.

"_Think of me when you're out_

_When you're out there_

_I'll beg you nice from my knees_

_And when the world treats you way too fairly_

_Well it's a shame I'm a dream"_

"No, God, No! Not this damn song by Paramore," Lisa began pleading with herself.

"_All I wanted was you_

_All I wanted was you"_

"This can't be happening, this is just a bad dream, this whole thing is just a bad dream… right?" Lisa continued with her pleading, not wanting to except the truth of the matter.

"_I think I'll pace my apartment a few times_

_And fall asleep on the couch_

_Wake up early, the black and white re-runs_

_That escape from my mouth"_

"Please, just stop," Lisa called out in agony.

"_All I wanted was you_

_All I wanted was you"_

"No, it's not true…" Lisa quietly said to herself as her eyes began to puff up.

"_I could follow you to the beginning_

_Just to relive the start_

_Maybe then we'd remember to slow down_

_At all of our favorite parts"_

"No," was all Lisa could muster as she was waging a battle within herself trying to hold back tears.

"_All I wanted was you"_

"No,"

"_All I wanted was you"_

"No, no, no"

"_All I wanted was you"_

"Yes,"

* * *

"_**This is everything I've ever wanted," a voice seductively whispers.**_

"_**What?"**_

"_**You Scott."**_

"Lisa, do you mind if I ask you something?" Scott Pilgrim ran up to Lisa Miller as the two walked home from school.

"Go right ahead Scott," Lisa simply answered with a smile.

"Well, you know how it's me and Kim's one year anniversary in a couple of days," Lisa didn't say a word but her face reeked of surprise. Seeing this Scott then continued by saying, "What? I can remember important stuff too!"

"I never said you couldn't," Lisa defended as she waved both her hands in front of her face.

Scott just grinned and said, "It's not what you say it's how you look!"

Lisa let out a giggle before informing him, "I'm pretty sure that's not how that saying goes."

"Anyway, I need you to tell me what you think of this gift," Scott said, trying to get back on the subject at hand.

"Alright, let's see it then," Lisa said, though she was still taken aback by the whole event. This event only got stranger when Scott pulled out a ring case, "Please, please, please tell me you aren't proposing!" Lisa stuttered out in disbelief.

"Of course I'm not!" Scott simply replied as he went on to say, "Just open it."

Lisa then took the ring box from him and opened it, seeing what was inside made Lisa's face ooze of confusion. Lisa then looked up to face Scott and asked, "Wonder twin rings?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you knew right away. I was going to give her one and keep the other one," Scott said to Lisa a look of both surprise and nervousness.

"Where did you even get these things?" Lisa asked still confused as ever, as she reexamined the plastic rings.

They had a contest in Fruit Brute they randomly put two rings in like every three-hundred thousand boxes, and I got'em!" Scott said, by his tone you could tell he was proud of himself.

"Wait, Fruit Brute? Hasn't that cereal been discontinued for like ten years? And how many boxes did you have to go through?" Lisa asked, this gift becoming more and more interesting by the second.

"Well, by brother knew a guys parents who owns an old store, and I had to eat like three-hundred boxes of the stuff till I finally found them." Scott said, excitement in his voice as he felt he was starting to win his friend over with the gift idea.

Lisa just stared at Scott before saying, "You actually ate three-hundred boxes of ten year old cereal?"

"How else was I supposed to get the rings?" Scott asked dumbfounded.

"You could have just looked at the bottom of the box," Lisa informed her friend. After saying this statement the two friends shared an awkward silence between each other before Lisa asked, "So what do the rings mean?"

"Well, the Wonder Twins are the only superhero team who's powers don't work without each other. So it's like saying, when we are alone we are just normal humans, but when we are together we're so much more. We're HEROES!" Scott explained to Lisa who was listening rather intently.

"I'm sure she'll absolutely love it Scott," Lisa somberly grinned at her friend as the two walked home together.

"_**This is nice, this feels nice, you're nice."**_

"_**Scott."**_

"_**What is it Lisa?"**_

"_**I love you."**_

* * *

Lisa rushed through the hospital entranceway as her eyes darted around she saw a familiar face waiting for her, "Lisa, here this way." Kim Pine ushered her worried friend towards where the others have been waiting.

"Thanks Kim," Lisa replied as she headed towards where Kim was standing.

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad you can make it," Kim told her dear friend as they shared an embrace. After the two girls separated from their embrace, Kim, went on to say, "Scott's room is right over there when you're ready."

"Just give me a second," Lisa said trying to compose herself as the gravity and reality of the situation was finally hitting home.

"Take all the time that you need," Kim replied as she walked into the waiting room where everyone else was at with Lisa by her side. Lisa exchanged somber pleasantries with Scott's other good friends. After about five minutes Lisa informed them she was off to visit Scott, she then began the long unpleasant walk to his room.

**Step, Step, Step, Step**, the words seemed to protrude out of the blonde's shoes as she preformed the action. The noise her feet were making sent Goosebumps up Lisa's back every time she took one. The walk seemed to drag on for eternity until finally she reached the door. She opened it without hesitation, beeping noises broke the silence of the hallway she had just came from, even they felt sinister in intent. Her face panned over to see her longtime friend hooked to a bunch of wires and tubes. "Scott, it's me… Lisa," was all the blonde could bring herself to say seeing him in this state.

"Lisa, I can't believe it's you! It's been so long," Scott excitedly, but weakly, said as he attempted to sit up.

"Scott don't push yourself," Lisa said as she rushed over and sat down on a chair that was at his bedside motioning her hand down to try and stop Scott from sitting up. "I'm sorry, I haven't been to Canada to come and visit in forever. I'm sorry about a lot of things," Lisa looked away from Scott as she delivered the last sentence in that statement.

Scott just grinned and said, "Don't apologize Lisa, you have nothing to feel sorry about."

An awkward silence follows Scott's last statement, it lasts for roughly ten minutes before Lisa breaks it by yelling, "Stop it Scott, just stop it!"

"Stop what Lisa?" Scott asked confused at Lisa how was literally shaking after she yelled at him.

"Stop making me love you," Lisa dejected and defeated said as tears poured down her face. "It hurts too much Scott, Kim… Ramona… just stop it… please."

"Lisa bu-"

Lisa cut him off before he could utter another word though as she sobbed and exasperatingly told Scott, "Just stop talking, I know I'm selfish. I've always been so selfish, you're here dying and all I can think about is me. You leaving me, you hurting me, you loving me. I'm sorry Scott, I'm just so sorry. How can I expect you to love me, how can I even expect you to even call me a friend from the way I've acted? I let you not tell Kim you were moving so I could make you spend your last day with me! I'm the one who made you cheat on Ramona! I'm the one who can't be content with just being friends… I'm the one who's a horrible person. After that night I ran away in vein, I thought if I left the country I could forget what I did, forget about you, forget about… us. But I found out that trying to get about you is like trying to forget about the warmth of the sun. Why Scott? Why did you tell me you loved me? Why would you love someone like me? Someone who doesn't deserve it, someone who only cares about themselves. Why did you have to return my affection?"

Scott just stared blankly at the sobbing Lisa for a few moments before Scott told Lisa, "Lisa, stop saying those things you know are not true! You're the greatest friend I ever had, I want to thank you Lisa."

"No Scott, don't say that, don't say things you don't mean," Lisa called out trying to stop him.

"You're the cause off all my happiness Lisa, without you I never would have started playing music, I never would have met Kim, I never would have met anyone I know now. It's all thanks to you Lisa, you made all this happen meeting you in that principals' office made me the man I am today. I can never repay you for that Lisa." Scott said in a somber and painful tone.

"Scott," Lisa said smiling, though tears were still rolling down her face.

"We're like the Wonder Twins Lisa! Together we're superheroes, nothing can stop us," Scott said as he sat up and looked into Lisa's eyes. All Lisa could do as a response is shed even more tears. Scott then turned away from Lisa as he told her, "I meant it Lisa."

Lisa then asked with a smile, "Which part?"

"I meant it when I said I loved you that night," Scott said still not looking Lisa in her bloodshot eyes.

"Sco-"

"But why did you lie to me Lisa? Why did you tell me nothing happened?" Scott said as he finally looked her in the eyes, that still looked beautiful filled with tears.

"When I finally kissed you Scott it was the happiest moment in my life, nothing mattered anymore, the past, the future, all my mistakes, all my failures. The only thing that mattered was that moment, that incredible moment of bliss. But after it was over all I felt was unbearable sadness. I knew somewhere deep down I'd never feel this feeling again. It was the most depressing feeling in the world, I thought to myself that if we never parted lips it would last forever; but the need to breath separated them. I thought if the world stopped turning I could stay there; but the sun still rose. After finally finding it, after finally finding the Promised Land it was going to be gone in the morning. I was completely devastated and yet euphoric at the same time, it was the most peaceful moment in all of my existence. I lied to you Scott because I knew you cared about her, you just needed a little push! And I wasn't worth your affection Scott, not in this lifetime anyway, maybe in some other time some other place we're together. " Lisa said as the tears stopped flowing (kinda), she had finally told him, finally told him how she really felt all this time.

"Lisa, I-"

Lisa put her finger on his mouth as she told him, "It's time for me to go Scott." She then got up and slowly walked to the door before Scott called out to her she turned around to see Scott still sitting up.

"We'll always be together in the Promised Land, goodbye is just the start of hello. We'll meet again, in the Promised Land." Scott weakly sang out to Lisa who started to cry again before running out of the room. Lisa continued to run she ran passed Kim, she ran past the nurses, she ran all the way to the airport. She couldn't stay there, here, anywhere, right now… not after she knew what the Promised Land felt like.

* * *

"I can't believe he's dying! We've known each other forever it seems like, I don't know if I can face him after all that I've done; all the mistakes, all the heartbreak, all the deception. Will he even want to see my face?"

"There is only one way to find out," A male figure forebodingly said as he pointed at a hospital door.

A gulp was loud enough to be heard as a blonde female walked slowly to the door. Opening it ever so slowly she somberly asked, "Hello, do you remember me old buddy?"

"How can I forget?"

The two exchange awkward smiles as… "CUT, CUT, CUT! HOLY CRAP! Now that is how you act Lisa, I mean a few days and you're a totally different actress!"

"Then why did you say cut in the middle of the scene?" Lisa asked after getting showered with praises.

"Because you have to take off that Wonder Twin ring…" Egor simply responded.

* * *

**A/N Well, that concludes my chapter for Voice4TheMute's story. I hope you enjoyed it. In case you are wondering I made the song that Sonic and Knuckles sing at the party. Well, I hope I did my favorite character justice. And Voice4TheMute I have to personally thank you for putting up with all my shit. This guy is like a champion, he doesn't get mad when I keep changing the day I give him the chapter and isn't afraid of anything! So thank you so much for letting me write the two guest chapters for you it was a real honor!**

**-TrixieStixs **

_V4tM: Wonderful job TrixieStixs, knew you were the man to go to for an awesome (and very long) Lisa Miller chapter. I've very impressed on what you did with the character as well as the background story you gave to give her a more predominate role in Scott's life. Also…you know, the whole cheating thing… (which is something I'm seeing people write about now…I really hope this doesn't turn into a rumor that goes all the way to BLOM). Loved the song, loved the symbolism with the Wonder Twins, love the chapter. _

_Please review! But don't thank me, thank __**TrixieStixs**__, this chapter is completely his so no credit goes to me._

_Also…felt like I need to reiterate this after my second reading, _**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.** _Just because there are some names that LOOK familiar doesn't mean that they were based on them…seriously. ''_

Until Next Time…!


	11. The Whole Nine Yards

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

A/N: When coming up with this chapter, there was a lot of pressure for me. Since all of you at home have been keeping track of all the characters that came to see Scott, you might have realized that there are only two characters left: Kim and Ramona. Well, it's a given that Ramona has to the last character (and therefore, the best chapter right?), but as you guys/gals know…I write a pretty mean Kim Pine. So here I am, wondering if my Ramona chapter will be any good as my Kim chapter. Well…we'll see won't we?

_Voice4TheMute Presents_

"_Hey Scott?"_

"_Yeah Kim?" Scott said as he brought me closer to him in a warm, one-arm embrace. We were walking home from school since we missed the bus going home: Scott had to serve detention and I had to attend a student council meeting. But it was a nice autumn day so walking home wasn't a total drag. Plus it allowed Scott and me to spend time with each other. _

"_You still didn't tell me what you wanted to do for our one year anniversary…"_

"_Our one year is coming up?" Scott said, surprised, but I gave him a gentle slap in the face._

"_Quiet you. Stop messing around with me." I said to him as I felt his hand start moving down my body._

"_But messing around with you is-"_

"_Down boy!" I said to him, feeling my checks feel flushed. Scott laughed as he resumed his normal arm hug around my shoulders. "You're the one that wanted to do something special. I said it'll be fine if we just had a picnic but since you got the idea in my head…" I said to him as I rested my head on his shoulder. "…I hope it's really romantic."_

"_Um…yeah! It'll be super romantic!"_

"_It better be…you keep saying how awesome it would be so I'm going to hold you to it."_

"_R-R-really?"_

"_Of course." I said as I rose up and kissed his cheek. "But you know I'm ok with a sandwich at the park. Or maybe even a donut at Ol' Santos'. As long as we get to spend the day together." _

"_Yeah. As long as we're together on that day, then I don't care what we decide to do." Scott said to me, kissing the top of my head. I love it when he does that._

"_But I still expect a romantic day with flowers, chocolates, a string band to play in the background….and let's not forget to find a quiet place so we can-" I teased as I felt Scott's hug on me lessen, indicating nervousness again. "Oh, I'm just kidding, Scott. Lighten up."_

"_O-Oh…" I couldn't help but smile at my boyfriend. I reached over and turned his head so I can give him a proper kiss on the lips. He gently returned it as I broke away and resumed to rest my head on his shoulder._

"_I love you Scott…"_

"_I love you too, Kim."_

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranoia456_

"Where's Ramona, Kim?"

"I don't know." I said to Stephen Stills as I entered the waiting room and took a seat near the door. The mood in the room still hasn't change in the hours after the announcement that Scott was going to die. I guess I was expecting too much, hoping that somehow the prognosis would have changed since I excused myself from this room.

_Dammit Scott…even when you're not here, you're still making me do work for you. I called up Envy, Lisa, Knives, even consulted Ramona. How is it that when you're not around us, you still manage to make us do things you're way too lazy to do yourself? But then again…he didn't ask me to call them up. I did it on my own accord. Those people were affected by Scott's existence one way or another…if it was me, I damn sure hope someone would call me up._

"What are we going to do…?" Stacy said out loud as everyone looked over at her. "I mean, like, preparations for his funer-"

"AHH! AHH! AHH! I'M NOT HEARING IT!" Stephen said, covering his ears. "Please, can we not mention it? At least…not now."

"He theoretically has a month…maybe more. Guess no isn't the greatest time to think about it, Stacy." Neil said to her, draping an arm around her for comfort. "We should just sit and wait…"

"Has anyone seen Julie lately? She hasn't come back since she went to go talk to Scott. God I hope he's still alive after talking to her."

"Wallace hasn't come back either…not to mention that Ramona hasn't been seen since she went to clear her head."

_This is getting ridiculous._ "I guess I'll go see if they are around the hospital." I said as I got up. I knew I really wasn't going to go look for them. What they're doing is their own business. But for Ramona not to been seen since then…that's suspicious. "…don't look at me like that you guys. I'll come back. I promise." I said to them, feeling my left eye twitch when I said the word 'promise'. Who knew such a reassuring word can hold so much pain.

As I was walking down the hall, I could hear the faint sound of crying. I increased my pace, hoping I could be there in time. But life doesn't work around hopes and dreams. As I rounded the last corner, I caught a glimpse of a blonde girl running away from Scott's room. It was too late to chase after her…not that Lisa wanted to be chased. The least I could have done was comfort her…but she was out of sight before I could do anything.

"Lisa…" I muttered as I approached Scott's door, holding onto the door handle that would lead me into reality. "Please…don't bring back too much pain, Scott." I pushed the door open and walked in, slowly closing the door behind me.

_The Final Farewell 024: The Whole Nine Yards_

"You know…I would have more sympathy for you if this was the first time you were in the hospital." I said to Scott, approaching his bed. Scott looked over in my direction and gave me a weak, but stupid smile.

"I told you I could climb that tree…"

"Yes you did, but then what happen next?"

"I fell out of the tree…"

"And..?"

"…broke my arm…" Scott admitted as I sat down in the chair that was next to his bed. "But it was totally worth it. The view was awesome. You should have climbed up with me."

"Yeah, no. It's been nine years Scott and I still haven't regretted that decision." I said to him as we made eye contact. He did his best in giving me a smile of reassurance and I did my best to give one back but it's getting harder and harder to do so as the days go by. I want to believe that he'll be ok…I really do…

"Kim…" Scott muttered as he weakly lifted his hand towards me, his palm facing upward and his fingers spread open. I knew what he wanted, but even now, I still feel uncomfortable by it.

"Scott…I don't know about this…" I said to him but he kept his hand levitated there, waiting for a response. "…it's been years since I…"

"Please Kim? For me…?"

I sighed begrudgingly as I reached over and held his hand. It was unnaturally cold, so I gave it a small squeeze, hoping it would give it more warmth. "You know I don't like holding hands in public."

"We're not in public."

"We're in a public hospital. We're in public…" I snapped at him, looking at our clasped hands. "But it was always nice when we did. That's something Past Kim would never admit out loud."

"Yeah…it was nice when we did…" Scott said as I felt him trying to squeeze my hand in response.

"You know this is, like, borderline cheating, right?" I said to him as I moved our hands upwards.

"Ramona's done worse. She kissed Rachel when we were still dating…"

"You mean Roxie?"

"Same difference. And you kissed a girl too and you liked it."

"How is that related to anything right now?" I asked him, waving our hands around in the air. At that moment, Scott did something that I haven't seen him do since he was rushed here to the hospital.

He started to laugh.

It wasn't a strong laugh, but it was audible for anyone near him. It was refreshing to hear him laugh like this…so refreshing that I joined him in his laughing fit. By the end, we both were out of air, and hopefully that little diaphragm exercise didn't hurt Scott in the long run.

"Scott…" I started, trying to catch my breath. "…you'll never change."

"Don't say that. I like to think that I changed since high school." Scott said, regaining his composure. He was looking a bit better now. His gloomy, depressing, weak person he displayed five minutes ago was now replaced with the Scout I've always known: a spirited, determined, easy-going young man. Though calling him a 'man' might be pushing it a little.

"I don't know…you're still be the oblivious, hard-headed dork that I've come to know and lov-" I started but held back the last work of the phrase. Even though it was a saying, saying that word to him was still a struggle for me…now more than ever.

"Love? You love me?"

"Shut up, Scott. It was a figure of speech."

"Oh…" Scott muttered. He looked at our clasped hands and then back at me. "Kim? In high school…did you love me then?" I squeezed his hand really hard in response.

"Are you serious, Scott? You don't remember?" I asked, figuring he would at least remember the first time we said 'I love you' to each other. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt though, seeing how he's fighting to stay alive right now. "It was during our spring semester as juniors. You recently broke your arm trying to prove me wrong that you can climb the tallest tree at that park near our houses. Well, Lisa told me one day to meet you at the park that day at a certain time. Fearing the worse, I went to the park right after school, hoping to God that you weren't trying to climb that same damn tree…"

"Oh yeah…now I remember…" Scott said but I continued the story.

"…but when I got there, you weren't in that tree. Instead, I found you in another tree, 'Old Reliable' we called it, because-"

"We know how to climb that tree with one hand behind our backs…" Scott smiled.

"I was yelling at you, saying how dumb you are for climbing trees when you just broke your arm and the only thing you were telling me was that I came too early. After climbing up to your level, I was honestly on the verge of doing something I would have regretted for the rest of my life. But then I saw it… the whole picture. The reason you were so determined to climb that tree…the reason you wanted me to come to the park at a certain time…"

"I wanted to watch the sunset with you…like you always wanted to do. That was the second highest tree."

"It was then I fell in love with you Scott. You may be bullheaded, childish, quick-tempered, but you're also sweet, considerate, and protective. Everything that I've always wanted and a little bit more." I admitted to him. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed as I said that, bringing my free hand to cover my face. "Oh man, I can't believe I'm doing it again…"

"Doing what?" Scott asked as I uncovered my face. I forgot how bad he is in picking up a woman's feelings.

"Scott, I'll let you in on a little secret. A woman's heart never forgets a relationship. That goes double for relationships that actually MEAN something to them. Got it?" I said, looking at him dead in the eyes. It was the reason I called Envy and Knives…even Lisa when I eventually found out about her little 'moment' she had with Scott. Scott means something to them. Whether or not he recuperates those feelings is up to him. He didn't say anything right away, but I knew he finally got it when his grip on my hand lesson.

"I'm sorry Kim. But I love Ramona and-"

"Save your breath, Pilgrim. I know. I've known for a long time. It's just hard, you know? To forget the person that played such a huge role in your life…especially when they're your first love."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. Well, you could have definitely handled the breakup better…" I started as I saw Scott avert his eyes away from me in shame. "…but it was a risk that I was willing to take."

"Dating me is a risk?"

"Dating you specifically? Yes. But dating anyone has their inherit risk. You have no idea, but at the time, I was definitely scared about dating you, Scott. I just got out of another relationship…just to get into another one literally seconds after my breakup. No mourning period, no time to do the single scene…just straight into another one. I would constantly think about it too…was rushing into another one smart? Was I really the type of person to dismiss someone old for someone new that fast? Was this a risk I'm willing to take? Especially with someone that I genuinely feel attracted to? If we break up, will he still be my friend…"

"Kim, please calm down." Scott tried to soothe me, but my rant needed to be heard.

"…it was a huge risk I was running. So many downsides and what do I get in return? The label of 'taken'. It was something that I've always thought of back then…but as the relationship progress, those thoughts were slowly replaced…"

"With what?" Scott asked as I felt of face get warm.

"Please Scott…don't. It's way to-"

"Kim, please. I want to know." I sighed in response. This may be the last time I get to see Scott. If I hold it in, I know I would regret it later. I reached to the depths of my personality, my heart, my soul to say what I'm about to say next.

"…of marriage…of having kids. Walking hand-in-hand down this crazy street we call life like you promised me years ago. I saw a future with you. I saw a house, kids, maybe even a pet. I saw the whole nine yards…going to college, going to parties, getting ridiculously drunk with you…going to our high school reunion…" I said, as I lowered my head and closed my eyes. "Lisa once asked me if I had plan for the future. I told her that I didn't really think about the future nor had plans for it…as long as you're in my future Scott. Mrs. Kim Pilgrim…that's what replaced the fear." I could feel the tears start to form in my eyes as I basically poured my soul in front of Scott. But I had to be strong…I wasn't here for me afterall.

"Kim I…I know I've wronged you in the past…but I never knew-"

"Scott, we were high school students. Who knows what would have happened if things were different. Maybe something else would have come up to break us up…who knows…" I said, feeling disheartened by that thought. "They point is…things happen for a reason, know what I mean?" Scott didn't respond. I knew he wouldn't understand where I was going with this thought, so I decided to do this point blank. "Scott…have you spoken to Ramona yet?"

"Ramona? I…I haven't seen her all day. She's here, right?"

"She's here…but a better question is why she isn't here now."

"B-Because you guys keep seeing me one by one. I keep thinking Ramona will be next but…she never came." Scott said to me but I knew he was full of it.

"Liar. The truth is you never wanted to see Ramona."

"What! How can you say that!"

"Scott, how many people have come by to see you?"

"About…eight. Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Scott, you could have asked any one of those eight people to get Ramona and you KNOW they would fetch her in a heartbeat. But no…here you are…at your final friend before seeing her. Why Scott? Why is she the last person to see you?"

"…I'm scared to see her, ok? Ever since the new was broken that I'm about to die…I'm scared to see Ramona. Here will she react? Will she feel like she wasted her time with me? I'm suppose to be the tough guy… I defeated all of her evil ex's. How am I suppose to make her feel safe when her 'superman' is dying."

"Scott! SHE'S DYING! Every second she's not in here, her soul is slowing tearing itself apart. Every second that passes by is a second less she gets to spend with you. And do you know why she hasn't come down herself? It's because she's scared of the same things you're scared of. Scott…she needs you. She wants to be with you. You can still be her 'superman'. All you need to do is push your fears aside for someone that's probably more scared than you are." I finally released his hand and stood up, staring him into his eyes as she stared back at mine.

"This is your last chance Scott. Do you want me to get Ramona?"

"…"

"…"

"…please get Ramona for me, Kim." I nodded as I headed to the door. As I gripped the handle, I turned my head and looked at Scott one last time.

"You know Scott…it's been nine years since high school. I always looked back at that time and wonder if taking that risk was worth it…" I opened the door wide enough for me to pass through. "…I just wanted you to know that it was the best risk I ever took in my life."

* * *

"_Hey Scott?"_

"_Yeah Kim?"_

"_Do you ever think about the future?" I asked him, heels in one hand, a part of my forest green prom dress in the other, as Scott and I walked down the sidewalk away from St. Joel's. His black bowtie was untied, his shirt slightly un-tucked, and his boutonniere was in shambles, but he had a warm smile that he wore all through the night. _

"_Like…what I'm going to eat for dinner?" Scott asked as I nudged him with my elbow. He jolted in reaction but wrapped an arm around me to keep me warm._

"_I mean the far future. Like college and jobs and all that crap." I said as I leaned into him. He had his thinking face on, but then he turned to me and smiled widely._

"_Nope!"_

_I elbowed him again._

"_Ow! What's that for Kim?"_

"_Scott, we're seniors! We're going to be graduating soon. I mean…did you even decide on which college you're going to attended? I mean…you're not that bright, and even I'm surprised that a few colleges accepted you, but-ah! What are you doing! Stop tickling me!"_

"_Not smart, eh? Surprised huh? Well, surprise this!" Scott said as he continued to tickle me. It was getting harder and harder to keep hold of my shoes as well as my dress. _

"_S-Stop! HAHA! STOP! I'm just messing around! Please!" I laughed as Scott's assault slowly died down. It slowly became a hug again as we soon saw the car, that he manage to borrow, coming into view. "What I mean is have you planned anything out for the far future?"_

"_Mmm…can't really say I have. I don't think about it a lot." Scott said as he looked over to me. "What about you?"_

"_I can't say I have either…" I said, rubbed my head against him like a cat. "…it's hard to plan those things when you're comfortable where you are, you know? It's like…why think of the future when things are so good now." Scott nodded his head in agreement. _

"_I kinda figured…" Scott started before taking a small pause. "…that as long as I have you, the future doesn't need planning. I have you, and so far being with you has given me a pretty bright future."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah…I always thought the future was a scary thing to think about. But when I'm with you…" Scott said, kissing the top of my head. "…the future doesn't seem so bad." I couldn't say anything. I could feel my heart race as we got ever closer to the car. "We'll walk down this dark, crazy street we call life together. You and me."_

"…_you promise?"_

"_I promise. Cross my heart." Scott said as he sealed his promise with a kiss._

* * *

To Be Continued…

Oh boy! With Kim's chapter down, that just leaves Ramona. What should I write about…hmm…anywho! Please review below! I'll have the next chapter up ASAP…you know, as soon as I'm done celebrating my birthday =D

Until Next Time…!


	12. Strength in Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

A/N: So here we are. After going through the cast of character's we are finally on Ramona. In essence, this is the pinnacle of the story but it is also a weak character for me to write, personally. How will Ramona react? How is she feeling after all this time? Why hasn't she seen Scott since then? Well, let's go right into it and see what happens…!

But first…some back story…

* * *

_There were many questions running through my head as I left Scott's room. Will be he ok? Is he really at peace with the idea of dying? Have the doctors really abandoned him and labeled him as dead? So many questions…but none of them important at the time. I must find Ramona. Scott needs her, and I knew she needs him as well. But where would she be? Assuming that she's still IN the damn hospital._

I started walking around the hospital floor, hoping Ramona will still be on this floor and not, say, somewhere between floor one and floor fifteen. As I was walking around, I paused by the waiting room and peered in. Neil and Stacey were still holding each other…probably supporting each other up. Knives was idly tapping her foot…her college book wide open on her lap but her eyes were not looking at it. Stephen was acting as a support pillar as Julie rested against him, the signs of crying visible on her mascara-smeared face. Wallace, who seemed to have returned to the hospital, was mindlessly flipping through magazine pages. Everyone was in this depressing trance. I'm no exception, of course. I knew if I went in there, the only thing on my mind would be if Scott Pilgrim can pull through. But now isn't the time to be depressed. I had to find Ramona…no matter where she hid.

That's when it hit me.

_Could she be…?_

I quickly turned around and headed to the elevator, calling it to take me up. I got inside and pressed the highest floor the elevator could go.

_Ramona said it runs through his head. Maybe she's in there! But why? Is she trying to escape reality? No…she's more rational than that. But even if she did…what would she try to achieve in there? Maybe there is something in Scott's mind that's making him sick. Something in his head that's killing him from within…_

…_that's it!_

_She must have realized it was something in Scott's mind that is causing him to be like this! But why keep it to herself? We all want to help…Scott's our friend too._

The elevator door opened, but I knew I had to keep going up. There were no subspace doors in the hospital floors, but there was one on the roof. I'm sure of it. I located the stairs and quickly scaled upwards until I was in front of the roof entrance door. I opened it, scanning the roof for that wooden door with the star emblem on it.

_Come on…come on! Where is it? I know there is one here. But where in the world is…there!_ I saw the door off in the distance, in the other end of the roof. As I approached the door, I noticed that it was still slightly open with snow slowly coming out of it. She always told me Scott's mind, when empty, was a desert. Seeing snow seeping out of the door crack was confusing. Nevertheless, I knew what I must do. I opened the subspace door and peered into the darkness, the chill of the cold wind blasting my body as I stood there.

"Well…here goes nothing." I said before jumping into the cold darkness that was subspace…and Scott's mind.

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranioa456_

My landing was soft…which was nice since landing in subspace usually means landing on the sidewalk somewhere in Canada. Also, my landing was very cold. Unnaturally cold. I looked down at my landing spot and quirked an eyebrow.

"Snow? What in the world…?" I surveyed the area. Trees, benches, and a round-a-bout for busses…it all looked familiar to me. It was Hillcrest Park…but I knew I wasn't in Toronto. As I looked up, the sky was pitch black with random object suspending in the air almost as if this plane I was in was suspended in outer space. I was still in subspace, and by the looks of it, stuck in subspace since there were no exit doors in sight.

"Great…now I'm stuck here until I find Ramona…assuming that she's actually here in the first place." I said as I huddled myself and walked forward. Even though this place isn't real, just seeing snow all over the place is making me feel really cold. As I reached the top of the cement staircase, I saw something in the distance. Off in the playground, swinging idly on the swing set, sat two people holding each other's hands. "It can't be…" My walking soon became running as I close the distance between me and the swings. As I got closer, the details of the two people became clear. Boy and a girl…girl having shoulder length hair…boy with short, brown hair…the look of love between them. My pace slowed down as I stood in front of the swings, staring at the two from behind. The two just swing slowly back and forth, the only connection between them being their clasp hands. It was an honest moment they were having. But I knew it was all a lie.

"Ramona…Scott…?" I started as I walked a bit closer. They didn't turn around to see me. They were too busy staring into each other's eyes. Nauseating if you ask me, but I came here to do one thing. Plus, without Ramona, there's no escape from this place. "Hey you guys. Look behind you." I said with a little bit more force. The swinging stopped and both figured turned to see me. My guess was right, it was Scott and Ramona sitting in those seats. But something didn't feel right. Maybe it was the look of peace on Ramona's face…or the fact that a healthy Scott Pilgrim was staring at me.

"K-Kim! What are you doing here?" Ramona said, a bit startled by my appearance.

"Hey Kim. Wanna sit and swing? Never understood why this park only had two swing seats." Scott said, but my attention was on Ramona.

"Ramona, is this where you've been hiding all this time?" I asked, crossing my arms. Her eyes looked downward, almost ashamed of her actions.

"It's…it's nice to see Scott here. You know…healthy inside subspace."

"But it's not real. This isn't really Scott." I said to her but Scott raised his hand in objections.

"Well, I feel real. Does that count?"

"No that doesn't count!" I said in frustration. I took a second to take a deep breath. "Ramona…Scott needs you. He needs to see you. It's why I'm here. He requests your presence in his room." Ramona didn't respond right away. She looked over at dream Scott and sighed, releasing her grasp on him.

"I…I understand."

"Ramona? If I may…?" I started as Ramona, looked into my eyes. "Why did YOU wait this long to go to Scott's room? I mean…Scott couldn't really get up and go see you. But you could have easily walked into his room and talked to him whenever you wanted. Why? Why did you wait this long?"

"…why do you think I waited, Kim? I'm scared…I'm scared for Scott…I'm scared for me. This is just happening way to fast. I mean, I'm not even sure what I should be doing now." Ramona said as she closed her eyes and hung her head low. "Something in the back of my mind always told me that Scott will somehow get better…he'll pull through…"

I sighed as I rubbed my head. "Well…whatever. I'm not the one that you need to explain yourself to. I was just sent to get you to Scott. But since we're here in subspace, I'd imagine you found something?"

"Found something…?"

"You know…in Scott's head. Why stick around in Scott's head if you didn't find something." I said to her as she looked at me with confusion and worry.

"I…don't…"

"Come on Ramona, why escape to Scott's head all this time if you didn't find something? I mean…this illness is strange right? Doctors can't figure it out and Scott's showing strange symptoms. This has to be something in his mind. Maybe a side-effect of the glow or Gideon…" I said, unsure of the reasoning, but any hypothesis is better than none. What else could have caused this disease?

"Um…Kim. I don't…" Ramona said as dream Scott started to fade away. Soon, the snow beneath us began to melt and the ground started to rumble violently.

"W-What's going on? Is Scott in trouble? Is this the diseases?" I said aloud, but before I got an answer, Ramona grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the swing set. "R-Ramona? What's going on?"

"We must escape." She said as she used her free hand to search for something in her purse. She then pulled out a small gold star, the same star that is seen on all subspace doors, and looked around her. The snow beneath our feet has now fully melted and deep cracks started to form underneath out feet. The ground was breaking, and something tells me if we fall, we're going to be falling forever. "Come on…come on…"

"Ramona, please search faster…!" I said to her as I started to look around as well, trying to see something that would look like what Ramona was looking for. But with no idea of what to look for, it was difficult to find something that would help us. Suddenly, I felt a sharp tug on my arm to the left.

"Here!" Ramona said as we head towards an unmarked wooden door. She took her star emblem and threw it like a Frisbee, planting it on the center of the door. "Prepare for a rough landing!" She said as we continue to run straight and right through the door. I was expecting a hard impact, since we didn't open it, but we passed it as if it was opened and we both stumbled forward, rolling into what looks like an empty hospital room.

"Ow…that was unexpected…" I muttered as I looked behind me. The subspace door that we ran through wasn't there anymore. It was replaced by a hospital patient door. "Are…are we back in the hospital…?"

"Yeah. We're back. Not sure what floor, but we're back at the hospital." Ramona said, getting up. She looked at me, seeing the confusion on my face. "It was a one-time use subspace emblem. It makes any door in subspace a subspace door. It's one use only so that door we just jumped through won't take us back. I always keep one handy…you know…incase that stuff happens."

"That's great and all Rammy, but what happened back there? Scott's mind started to shatter. What does that mean? Has the disease taken over his mind?" I asked her as she started to walk to the door, placing her hand on the handle bar.

"Scott's mind…?" Ramona repeated. "I don't think you understand…" She sighed as she opened the door, leaving me to sit on the floor. "That wasn't Scott's mind. It was mine."

_The Final Farewell 025: Strength in Friends _

_I knew that one day I would walk into Scott's room, knowing that it may be the last time I would see him. I never imagine that this day would come so soon. They say that he has a month at best…but what does that really mean? Does that mean if everything goes according to plan, then he'll die in a month? Does that mean he could die at any time between now and then? Maybe in two weeks? One week? Three days? …tomorrow? So many factors..._ I left the room that Kim and I ran into from subspace and looked around, trying to figuring out which floor I was one. _Floor three huh…I guess I'll take the stairs._

As I entered the stairwell, I remembered what Kim was talking about when she suddenly appeared in my mind. _She thought I had a solution to Scott's disease…she thought the reason that I was there was because I found a cure for him. How absurd…well…how hopeful. I guess she, too, is in denial. I didn't have a solution…I didn't find something that will help Scott. All I was doing…was trying to escape from reality._

I opened the door that lead to the fifth floor and walked through. _Soctt's always been the one that was strong for the both of us. He's the one that stood up against my evil exes…he's the one that fought for the relationship…he never gave up, even when I did. _

I walked pass the waiting room and took a moment to look inside. It didn't seem everyone notice me looking in, but I saw the reality of the situation. _Everyone already went to go see him. They have more courage than I do. While they were facing their fears, I was indulging in my mind…trying to pretend that nothing was happening. I am truly am in denial. _

"_Ramona…Scott needs you. He needs to see you. It's why I'm here. He request your presence in his room." _Kim's voice echoed through my head.

_I've been putting it off too long. Scott's been fighting all this time…maybe it's my turn to be strong for the both of us. Maybe even for everyone…_ I tapped on the window of the waiting room and saw everyone's head look up and see me. There was a look of relief and joy as they saw me, some even motioned to get up. I held my hand up, signaling them to stay where they were. I pointed over to Scott's room, hopefully telling that I'm going to see Scott now. They all nodded in agreement as I turned and started to head to Scott's room. I looked back at the room and realize that my presence there had a bigger impact than I thought. Everyone was lively again…they were all talking among each other rather than sitting in silence. I continued to walk down the hall and made it front of Scott's room, door slightly open with the faint sound of beeping coming out of it.

_Well…here we go…_ I gently pushed the door open and quietly closed it behind me. I felt my breath become shallow as I looked forward, seeing Scott's bed and all the machines that were attached to him. My heart was racing…I couldn't step forward. The fear of losing Scott was too great. I stepped into this room plenty of times before…but now…I'm paralyzed with fear. I knew that if I go to him…if I see him now…it means that I acknowledge that he's going to die…that one day…

…Scott Pilgrim will leave me.

My throat was tightening…I couldn't breathe. The fear of losing Scott…the fear of being alone again…the thought that I made a big mistake in the past…any doubt in my mind felt ten times worse as I stood there and looked forward.

_I knew it…this was too much. I couldn't be strong for both of us. I'm just a weak girl that always ran away from her problems. I'm sorry Scott! I'm so sorry!_ I forced my body to turn around and grab hold of the door handle. It made a metallic noise…loud enough for it to echo in the room.

"R-R-Ramona…?" Scott's weak voice called in the empty room. I felt my heart leap with fear. He knew I was in here. He must have known since the beginning. He was probably waiting for me to walk to him or something. But no…I was standing at the doorway all this time, scared stiff. "Is that you Ramona…?"

"Y-Y-Yeah…it's me." I said in a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear. I tried to command my legs to walk forward, but they stayed in place. I tried to release my grip on the door handle, but I felt my hand tightened. I couldn't see him. I didn't want to see him. The hole I already made myself was too deep for me to come out of. I was supposed to be the one that stayed by his bed side all this time…but I'm the last one to see him. I'm supposed to be the one that raises our friend's spirits and morals…but I ran away from them. I have no right to be in this room. I have no right to even be called Scott's girlfriend. All I want to do now is disappear.

"Oh thank God. Come here Ramona, I need to tell you something…" Scott said as he turned his body to see me. Instead of seeing the fiercely independent girl that he knows and loves, he saw a cowering, scared, little girl that wanted to run out of that room and never wanting to look back. There was a look of confusion on Scott's face…followed by a look of depression, as if he knew what I was thinking. "Oh…well…if this is too much for you to handle then-"

"N-No! I mean…wait. I…I want to be here but…" I said, trying to reason with him. "…it's hard…seeing you like this." I said as I used all of my mental strength to release my hand from the door handle. "I wanted to come see you too but…I…"

"I…I understand. I wanted to see you too…but then it made me realize my mortality." Scott said, rolling back on his back and looked up at the ceiling. "Something kept telling me that if I saw you…after what the doctor's said…then all this will be real. That I'm really going to die."

_Move dammit! MOVE! _I thought to myself as I used all of my will power to take a step forward. Then another step. Then another. It was slow…but I was walking towards Scott. I made it to the chair that was next to his bed and threw my body down in it. I saw Scott look over at me and smiled, reaching towards me with an open hand. I saw it and reached over, lacing my fingers with his. The chill of his hand was discouraging…but I could still feel Scott's warmth regardless. It was nice…it was what I needed. Soon…the fear of losing Scott and the paralyzing grip it had over me started to fade away. I started to feel more courageous... more confident. It felt like Scott was sharing his endless strength with me. "I'm sorry…" I muttered, looking down at my lap.

"For what?"

"For being so weak. For being so scared. I should have more strength…for the both of us. But look at me. Even in your time of need, you're still being the strong one." I said, tears starting to form in the corner of my eyes. "I'm just weak. I've always been weak…"

"Don't say that."

"But it's true! I've never been able to commit to anything…never been able to see things all the way to the end. I'm too weak to fully commit or too scared to see anything to the end. It's true for dating as well as real life things like this." I rubbed my face, clearing any tears that were on my eyes. "I just want you to know that the reason I didn't see you sooner wasn't because I didn't love you. I love you with all my heart. I'm just scared Scott…what will happen when you die? What will I do? Where will I go? Will things be ok in the end…?" I said, feeling the tears form again. I felt a squeeze on my hand as Scott did his best to comfort me.

"I know Ramona…I'm scared too…" It made me feel a bit better to hear that Scott was scared as well. I returned the squeeze with my own.

"Heh…remember back then? When things weren't so…complicated." I said as Scott shook his head.

"I don't know about that. Things with you were always complicated." He said as I laughed a bit, wiping away more tears.

"I guess you're right. All you wanted to do was have a normal girlfriend. I guess I'm the complete opposite. Seven evil exes. Ex's with magical powers nevertheless. But then again, you're not your average Canadian. What could have scared away normal guys, you saw it as a challenge. You wanted to fight for me…a girl you barely even know. It was that determination that made me fall for you. You were always fighting for me…always being the pillar of strength that everyone leaned on. I felt secure when I was around you…and I felt my own confidence grow. You made me realize that there were still undiscovered parts of my personality that I have yet to see. I discovered that I was the jealous type…that I was able to love someone fully…that there are people out there that will stick with you, even when times become hard. You also taught me things about other people…

Like how long a grudge could last…

…how stardom can affect someone…

…how much responsibility comes with power…

…the effects of a curious mind…

…the power of jealously…

…and how evil someone can truly become.

I would never have learned how to trust someone fully without you. Your commitment, your determination, your love…it's been the driving force that keeps me going every morning. But now…now…what will become of me? What will I do when you're gone? I saw the future when I'm with you. I saw kids, a big home, a vacation every now and then. I…I can't live without you."

"Don't say that Ramona. Please don't say that. You have to live on. For the both of us." Scott weakly said to me, but I couldn't take any meaning out of it.

"I can't, Scott! I just…can't. I'm not as strong as you. I'm not courageous. I don't have the willpower like you have to just move on from something like this! I'm only one person!" I said to him.

"That's why you're not alone, Ramona."

My eyes widen as I turned around and saw Kim right behind me. I looked behind her to see everyone else coming into the room. I tried my best to wipe my eyes but I knew there was no hiding how I feel at this moment.

"We're all in this together Ramona. No one can be as strong as Scott." Wallace said as she came besides me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "But together…we can probably scrape up enough strength to get through it."You have to live on. For the both of us." Scott weakly said to me, but I couldn't take any meaning out of it.

"I still don't believe Scott will die…" Julie muttered, arms crossed. "…but if he does, I'll make sure everyone knows the story of Scott Pilgrim. You'll be the most talked about guy at my parties Scott. You're memory will never die."

"It will be hard when you leave us, Scott." Stephen said to him as he came to his bed and placed a hand on the railing. "But you'll never be forgotten. You'll always have a place designated for you when we all hang out. It'll be like you never left us."

"Guys…" Scott said, looking around the room. He was surrounded by his closest friends…my closest friends. The inevitable end was coming…and I knew it was going to hurt me bad…but with friends this close, I know I would be able to get through it. "…thank you. You guys are the best. Really." Scott smiled as he looked around the room. "But can we not talk as if I'm already dead? It's kinda bumming me out…"

"Well…you shouldn't because he's lasted this long. And something tells me he won't be for a little while longer." A voice said from behind us all. We all looked behind us to see Doctor Li there with her clipboard in hand.

"D-Doctor Li! How's my brother?" Stacey asked as Doctor Li weaved through the group of people to look at Scott's vitals on the different monitors.

"He's a fighter, that's for sure. Maybe a little stubborn too…"

"You got that right…" Kim muttered.

"…but we ran a few more tests on him. They came out a little bit better but…it still looks bad." Doctor Li admitted. "With that said, I have some good news…as well as some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

* * *

To Be Continued…

_The Final Farewell 026: Epilogue _

Until Next Time…!


	13. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Scott Pilgrim series or any of the characters mentioned in this story. All original characters and lines belong to Bryan Lee O'Malley and other respectable parties. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and not to be sold anywhere.

**This is a work of fiction, any similarity or likeness to any events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.**

A/N: After a very LONG break from writing (about eight or nine months), I am finally back and ready to complete some of the stories I started and maybe start some new ones. But before we start, I should apologize for how long it's taken for THIS particular chapter to come out. Just a few statistics, this ending went under 5 revisions where all 5 of them had different endings. Each one of them had different feelings to them, and unfortunately, I didn't like any of them so I kept scraping them away. BUT NOW I have an ending that I've been brooding on for the last couple of months and I hope that this final chapter will give the closure that everyone is looking for.

Thank you all for hanging in there and I hope you enjoy the final chapter to The Final Farewell.

~Voice4TheMute

* * *

It's been a week now since Scott was released from the hospital. Everyone was enthusiastic when we were all able to walk out of that place with Scott walking with us under his own strength. There was nothing but smiles and laughs as we made our journey home and, hopefully, never having to look back at this dark moment for the rest of our lives.

But it was all an act.

We knew what was going on inside Scott. Hell, he even knew what was going on.

But at that moment, none of that mattered. What mattered was that Scott was out of the hospital, walking with us, as we all headed home to celebrate.

_Voice4TheMute Proudly Presents_

"_The disease has stopped spreading in his body." Doctor Li told us as everyone's eyes widen with that news. "The treatment was finally kicking in and it would seem as if the disease was receding away from his-"_

"_So Scott will live?" Stacy suddenly blurted out. Everyone looked at her, but we were all thinking this same thing. This was the best news ever but the doctor did say there was bad news as well. "…will my brother live now that the treatment is working?" _

_There was a pause. Everyone was now starting at the doctor who slowly looked over at Scott who was also staring at her then back at the group of friends and family. _

"_I'm afraid that the damage has been done." She said in one exhale. "His respiratory system and a few of his vital organs have taken a huge hit. It's almost unrecoverable. Should he desire to keep living, then he'll eventually need life support." Doctor Li said with a disheartened look on her face. "It's a miracle that he survived this long. He's living on sheer willpower right now." _

"_More like he's being too stubborn to die." Kim commented._

"_But…there is nothing more we can do. We can give him a few meds to get him back on his feet, but within a few days, without mechanical help, his body will slowly shut down and he'll eventually fall into a comatose state where he'll…"_

"_How much time?"_

_Everyone looked over to me as I started into the doctor's eyes._

"_Ramona, you don't need to…"_

"_How much time will he have if he was off the machine?" I asked again as the doctor looked over at the mechanical machines that has been Scott's lifeline then back at me. _

_In conjunction with TrixieStixs and paranioa456_

"_At best, he'll have one good month before his body beings to shut down."_

_The Final Farewell 026: Epilogue _

And with that conversation, Scott was pitted with a decision: stay in the hospital where he'll eventually need life support, or use his one month of freedom before his inevitable end. Needless to say, Scott opted not to surrender to the disease. And I knew he would make that choice…if he had to make the same choice one hundred times he would choose the same thing one hundred times. But seeing him having to inject himself each day, swallow ten pills a day, and occasionally take prolonged sleeping breaks, I wonder if it's worth it.

"There you are Ramona." A voice called from behind. I looked over my shoulder to see Kim Pine approaching me from the rear. We were at the park that was located far away from my place…a place where Scott took me two weeks ago to celebrate our anniversary despite it behind a week before. It was cold that night…and it was still cold this night as well. I made eye contact with Kim to acknowledge her presence before huddling myself closer to keep myself warm. Kim made a small motion if she could sit down and I nodded my head. And there we sat in silence, staring out at the city skyline. The once beautiful display of streetlights and busy cars were now a harsh remind of how life can be. "I guess Scott is asleep now?"

"He's been asleep since six in the evening…" I said to her. It was already eleven at night. Kim didn't say anything. She knew that even though it was expected for Scott to sleep that long, it was abnormal. "Maybe it was a bad idea to-"

"Don't say that Ramona." Kim instantly snapped. I kept the rest of the sentence in my throat and swallowed them down to my stomach. I know I didn't mean that…and Kim knew it too.

"I…I know. Sorry." I said, looking away from her. "It's nice to have Scott back but…it's hard to see him suffer like this." Kim didn't say anything back. I heard her patting herself down as if she was looking for something. After the sound of rustling stop, there was a moment of silence. "…Kim?" I called as I looked over at her. She was staring up at the night sky, almost at the stars before she lowered her eyes down to me.

"I promised Scott that I wouldn't give you this until after he was gone but…"

"What? Give me what?" I said, a bit anxious and a bit angry. Why would Scott give Kim something to hold onto that was initially supposed to be given to me? And why would she have to wait until he died to give it to me? Kim clasps the item between her two hands and extended it towards me.

"Before we left the hospital, Scott asked me for a favor. He wanted me to pick up something. Something that he's been meaning to give to you two weeks ago but due to him being forgetful, he wasn't able to give it to you in time." She lifted the top hand off the item, revealing a velvet black box sitting in the middle of her palm. I stared at the small box and took it from her hand. Inside was a diamond ring with our initials engraved on the inside. "He really loves you Ramona. We were the ones that wanted him to take that extra step. That's why he's been working non-stop for the past two months. He just wanted to give you something decent." I felt my eyes water as I stared at the beautiful diamond ring. The ring that was intended for me. The ring that I pointed out spontaneously one day we were window shopping. The ring that I use to make fun of him, joking that he could never afford something like that with his current job. The ring that he promised me he will get one day for me…saying that I was worth every penny. I could feel the tears fall from my face and I tried my best to cover them up, but it was too much. All I wanted to do was cry and let my sorrow out…the sorrow I've been holding in for the past week.

* * *

After calming down, Kim walked me back to my place where she decided to crash on the couch for the night. I wore the engagement ring on my hand and continued to stare at it as we made it home. Kim made a small signal at her hand, indicating the ring that was on my finger. I sighed as I knew what she was getting at. I carefully look off the ring and placed it back in the box.

"Sorry. I just wanted to wear it for a couple of hours." I said as I begrudgingly handed her the box.

"I know Ramona. I know. I already broke a promise to a dying friend. This is the least I can do." Kim said as we both walked inside. We both walked to the main bedroom and took a peek inside. There laid Scott Pilgrim, sleeping soundly in bed.

"It's as if nothing changed…" Kim said as I felt her placed a hand on my shoulder. "I wonder what kind of dreams he dreams of now." She said as she lifted her hand and walked away from me. I carefully walked towards him and looked at his face. No ounce of pain on his face, no worry, no stress. It was the same face he always makes whenever he was sleeping: calm, peaceful, and a little bit of drool. I looked back at my hand where the ring once was and I felt a smile creep on my face. Mrs. Ramona Pilgrim. Urg…maybe Mrs. Ramona Pilgrim-Flowers. It may not have rolled off the tongue as smoothly as I wanted it to but it was the only thing that I wanted for a long time.

"I would have said yes, Scott. I just want you to know that." I said as I continued to look on. Then something crossed my mind. Something that Kim said back at the hospital that I haven't explored myself.

"_But since we're here in subspace, I'd imagine you found something."_

"_Found something…?"_

"_You know…in Scott's head. Why stick around in Scott's head if you didn't find something."_

It has never occurred to me to look into Scott's mind before. All this time I've been wallowing inside my own head that I didn't think to look at the person that was suffering the most. "I wonder what kind of dreams he is dreaming right now…" I said to myself as I walked over to my drawer and pulled it open. Inside were a few one-time use subspace emblems. I had a few nearby incase I needed to escape my house in a moment's notice. I picked one up and walked over to my closet door. I carefully attached it to the door and saw the small star emblem shine momentarily, confirming that the door was now a subspace door. I peered through the door to see nothing but black space. It didn't surprise me, afterall it was subspace. I took a deep breath before jumping into the void and float off in the direction that will lead through Scott's head.

* * *

I walked along the path that I usually took during my delivery routes. The progress was a lot slower since I wasn't on my skates, but the distance to Scott's head wasn't that much.

"Hmm…it should be around here…" I said aloud as I looked around. By now, even while walking, I should be seeing what Scott is dreaming right now but all I see is empty space. It got me a little worried, but then I saw something in the distance. It was a small light off in the horizon. I hurried my pace to see what was there, a mixture of worry and anxiousness filling my stomach. The light source slowly got bigger and bigger and soon it became visible: it was a projector, and it was projecting on a white screen. I found myself in a makeshift theater: there was a small projector, a pull-down screen, and a row of chairs set up in front.

"Ramona? Is that you? Or at you 'dream Ramona'?" A voice called as I looked over at one of the seats. There sat Scott Pilgrim and in his lap was a tub of popcorn. I smiled as I walked over to him, carefully stepping over the chair row so that I was sitting next to him. Seeing him like this…acting normal… it really put me at ease. Even though Scott was home now, he never looked this healthy. I leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss, a kiss that he was eager to return with equal tenderness. "…so you're sexy Ramona?"

"Sexy Ramona? What kind of dreams have you been having?" I said, a little bit upset by that but I quickly calmed down. "No, it's me. Ramona. Er…the real Ramona." I said as I sat down and leaned against him. "Just came to see what kind of dreams you were having…that's all."

"Oh…well. It's just been this one. Over and over again."

"Everytime?" I asked. "You've been sleeping a lot and this is the dream you keep having? A projector, a movie screen, and popcorn?"

"No…the movie just ended." He said as I heard clicking coming from behind us where the projector sat. "It's starting up again. Do you wanna watch it with me? I gotta warn you. It's pretty long." He said as I cuddled closer, taking some popcorn from his tub and putting it in my mouth.

"I have all night…" I said to him. Scott smiled, wrapping an arm around me.

"Cool. You might like it…though you've already seen the latter half of it." Scott warned.

"Oh? Is it Field of Dreams again? I swear, you boys and baseball movies…" I scoffed but he shook his as the movie started.

"Oh no…it's not a movie that's been released." Scott said as an image of a baby crawling across a white carpet. There were two over figures cheering the baby one as the young boy did his best to get up on both feet and attempt to walk to his father. It was heart-warming, inspiring, and slightly funny, but soon I realize what I was watching. I turned my head to Scott and met his gaze. He nodded at me, confirming the thought that was running through my head. "That's right Ramona…" He started as he looked back at the screen. "…it's my life's story, in movie form. Don't ask whose point of view you're watching. I've seen this movie so many times that it's still a mystery to me."

"Heh…you look cute when you're not being an idiot." I laughed as I watched baby Scott making his way across the floor to the welcoming arms of his father. The scene changed. Now we were standing in the middle of a busy school hallway. Kids hurried in and out of frame as two figures slowly made their way down the hallway towards the audience. I smiled as I recognized both figures. It was teenage Scott and Kim, hand in hand, talking about who-knows-what. I looked over at Scott with an eyebrow raised and he just laughed nervously.

"D-Don't look at me like that. It's high school! She was a big part of my high school life!" He defended as another girl appeared on screen and draped both of her arms around them. Her smile was wide and her pink pearl barrette shined as both teen Scott and Kim laughed and greeted the blonde girl. I shot another look at Scott, trying to act jealous. "T-That's Lisa! Remember! Lisa? Blonde? Actress? …she plays the…village slut on TV?" I shook my head and kissed his forehead. The scenes continued to change and Scott and I continued to watch and commentate on his life: Scott's eventual leave of St. Joel's (I punched him when I saw what he did to Kim), his graduation, first day of college and meeting Stephen Stills (and Julie Powers too), the formation of Kid Chameleon, his relationship with Envy Adams (and the eventual betrayal), his college graduation (and how drunk he got afterward) , and his meeting of Wallace Wells (the story was pretty gay). Watching Scott's life like this made me feel more connected to him. It made me realize how each person has affected Scott's life in some way. Soon, it was a part of the movie that I was very familiar with…the arrival of me.

"Oh God…" I said, covering my face at the sight of younger, naïve, me. I felt Scott wrestle my arms away from my face so that I'm forced to watch. "Scott, no! My hair-!" I complained.

"You're hair is perfect Ramona, now keep watching. I like this part. It's like a movie or something…" He said to me. I narrowed my eyes at him, wanting to point something out to him but I decided to hold my tongue and just enjoy the trip down memory lane. It was definitely something, watching the whole thing from a different perspective. I didn't realize how much Scott was fighting for me the entire time. Even when I turned my back towards him in the end, he was still fighting for me. Of course I witnessed a few things that I never saw, mostly him kissing Kim and the whole thing with Lisa (punched him harder for that one), but seeing him always fighting, never giving up…it just re-affirmed something that I knew all along.

"I love you, Scott…" I purred as I nuzzled against him.

"I love you too, Ramona." He said as he kissed my forehead. From here on out, the movie got dull. After the defeat of Gideon, life settled down. There were a few clips of Scott burning things at the Happy Avocado, some scenes of me (with and without clothes on), and band practice with Kim, but things have gotten boring until the night Scott took me outside two weeks ago. I smiled as I saw my past self be confused on why Scott was pushing me out in the cold and the look of amazement when she saw the lit up Toronto skyline. I saw Scott pat himself down and look disappointed when he couldn't find what he was looking for. I figured he was looking for the ring but I didn't say anything. From there on…the scene changed quickly and soon…I was watching everyone's one-on-one conversations with Scott in the hospital. He tried is best to cover my eyes and ears but I quickly avoided him so I can watch.

"You're not supposed to see those!" Scott said as I swatted his hands away from me.

"I wasn't supposed to see a lot of things, Scott. Deal with it." I said to him as I heard their conversations. Each one of them touched me so deep that I wanted to cry each time…and Scott sensed it. I felt his arms drape around me and hug me tight.

It was unfair.

It was so unfair that an amazing person like Scott is going to die. I felt the tears fall from my eyes and I did my best to wipe them. "It's not fair Scott. Why do you have to leave us?" I sputtered out as Scott sigh, still looking at the movie screen.

"I don't know, Ramona. I wish I knew. But you're right…it is unfair." He said as I heard more sounds coming from the screen. I was slightly confused, since the movie was basically over. I looked up to see something I've never seen before. I saw what looked like a church with pews filled with people. The aisle was covered in white petals and flowers on the ends of the pews. On the left of the church, stood Kim, Stacey, Knives, and Julie. On the right stood Wallace, Stephen, and Neil. In the middle stood Scott, wearing a nice white tuxedo. "Scott…what is this?" I asked him as he continued to watch in silence. Soon, a figure walked into the scene. Her hair was a light blue, but that was the only thing with full color. Her dress was long, white, and very flowy. I realize who she was, but didn't understand what I was watching. If this is a movie of Scott's life, then why am I seeing myself marrying Scott when he hasn't even proposed?

"These…" Scott started but took a moment to collect his thoughts. "…what you're watching now are…well, were my hopes for the future." He said as the scene changed once more. We were standing outside of a house with a sale sign stuck into the ground. I saw Scott walk over to it, pick it up, and chuck it off to the side. He walked over to future Ramona and planted a kiss on her check, rubbing the obvious bump on her stomach. I felt my eyes widen at the sight of myself pregnant. I couldn't fault him for those thoughts though. Afterall, those thoughts have also entered my mind from time to time. I suddenly felt uncomfortable when two kids suddenly ran on screen and hugged Scott's legs, each saying 'daddy'. "N-Now before you hit me, I always wanted three-OW!" Scott yelled as I socked his arm once more. There were more scenes after that, a lot of them were the gang hanging out in the house while, what I believe to be, everyone else's kids ran around and played with each other. There were scenes of those kids growing up, going to high school, attending their gigs (god forbid that our future children form a band), and even scenes of marriage. It amazed me how far Scott thought of the future…even I didn't think this far into the future. What made it sad is the one thinking this don't have a future anymore.

"From there on out, it changes a bit. I mean, what happens if Scott Jr. and Scott the third doesn't make it into college? Or what if Kim's kid doesn't like any of our kids and…"

"Wait, you named both of our kid boys Scott Jr. and Scott the third? Can you be more egotistical?"

"Well…no. But I think Scott is a good name."

"I stand corrected…" I said as I saw that the movie came to an end.

"I know it's silly…but ever since I got sick and was told that I was going to die, I did a lot of thinking of the future. It may have been 25 years too late…but I did think about it…how awesome having kids will be, wondering if our kids will be friends with our friend's kids…" He trailed, looking at me. "…marrying you."

"You know my answer will be yes." I said him at that instant.

"I know it will be. But I wanted the perfect proposal. So just wait a few more days, ok? I have it planned out." He said as I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. It made me sad that the future he mapped out for himself will never come to light. There was nothing I can really do to help him achieve that future. Or at least that's what I thought. I raised my head off his shoulder and brought my leg over his legs so that I was straddling his lap.

"R-Ramona?"

"I know you put a lot of thought into the future. More importantly, I know you put a lot of thought into the future with me. Though your time is limited and you'll never be able to see our friends have kids, I know one thing I can do so that can at least fulfill half of your wishes." I said, resting my hands on his chest and give him my best seductive look. Scott looked at my nervously, looking left and right to see if anyone was around.

"So you are 'sexy' Ramona…" He said as I leaned down and gave him a kiss he would never forget.

"I could be if you want me too. Just wake up, and I'll show you how 'sexy' this Ramona can be." I said with a wink. Just then, I heard sounds coming from behind me. I looked over to see that the movie was playing once again. I looked at Scott then back at the screen.

"Um…do you want to watch it one more time?" Scott asked.

"…sure. Let's watch it one more time." I said as I got off of him and cuddled close. I wasn't sure if I would see this again… to see and fully understand the life of Scott Pilgrim. So I wanted to make sure I understood it all just in case I don't get a chance to see it again.

* * *

"Scott Pilgrim. A stubborn, unpredictable, loving man. He's a fighter. He doesn't give up. He doesn't surrender. Everyone believed, even doctors believed, that he will die within the month that he left the hospital. Well…he proved them all wrong, didn't he?" I said to everyone as we were all gathered in a fancy dining hall. It was rented out by Wallace Wells (he insisted) and everyone was in their fancies suits and dresses. Friends, family, and close friends were here. Each person had a smile on their face, glasses of champagne or wine in each of their hands. "Scott even attended his own funeral party at the end of the month. By the way, that was a great party Julie." I said, tipping my glass towards her.

"You're damn right it was!"

"He surprised us all when that month was over. He made sure that he did everything he wanted to do before his time was, theoretically, up." I continued as I rose up my left hand in the air. There, on my fourth finger, was the wedding ring that Scott was going to give me so many weeks ago. "We got married. We had our honeymoon. He even went back to work...at least for one day. Scott Pilgrim. A great friend…a caring brother…a loving husband…" I trailed as I looked at my glass. I sighed as I looked back at the crowd, now concerned on why I paused. But I had to be strong. It was my turn to be there for them. "…may he rest in peace."

"TO SCOTT PILGRIM!" Everyone yelled as they tapped glasses together and took swigs out of their glasses. I let out a small sigh as I lowered my glass and sat back down. I felt Kim's hand on my back as I looked at everyone around me.

"Don't worry guys. I'll be fine, really." I said to them as they continued to look at me.

"We know, Ramona. But still, if you need to talk, we're all here for you." Kim said as nodded at her. Scott manage to surprise everyone, living for another month on top of the month he was predicted to die. Scott knew that his time was short, so with everyone's assistance, he tried to do all the things he wanted to do before his body gave up. The crowning achievement, of course, was planning a wedding within a month. In the end, we became man and wife and we manage to go on our honeymoon. It was basically a vacation at home but no one was allowed to contact us.

"You're not going to drink that, are you?" I heard Wallace's voice say to me. I looked at my drink and saw that my hand was still gripping it. I laughed a little as I pushed it away. It's not that I don't like champagne but…

"Oh, no. Sorry. Force of habit I guess."

"Can't let a pregnant lady drink alcohol. Also, this is your reminder not to smoke either Rammy-" Wallace started.

"I know Wallace! Thanks!" I said to him, a little annoyed. I placed a hand over my stomach, smiling to myself. "One of these days, you'll be exposed to Wallace's high horse nagging, little one." I said to my unborn child.

"So what's his name?" Kim asked but I stared at her.

"How do you know it'll be a boy? It's only been a month." I said to her but Stephen pulled up a chair next to me and sat down.

"Because it's Scott Pilgrim, that's why. I'm sure he masturbated all the girls out of his body."

"Ew, Stephen. Seriously? Can you please not say that stuff in front of my unborn child?" I said, rotating my body away from him. I couldn't help but laugh at them though. They were doing their best to keep me happy, and truthfully, I'm thankful for it. If it were up to me, I would be mourning Scott's death, but with the help of friends, I know that I can get through this. Scott won't be here to be the father of his child, but I know that I can trust my friends to help me. "Well, when he does grow up, you guys are helping me tell him how awesome his father was."

"But of course Ramona. We have to tell him how NOT to be so he doesn't end up finding girls with seven evil ex boyfriends."

"What?"

"Yeah, and how to actually play the guitar and sing."

"Wait!"

"Not to mention how not to be a lady killer jerky jerk." Julie chimed in as she past our table.

"YOU GUYS!"

* * *

"…and that, my dear, is why you're not named 'Scott Jr.'" I said to the little girl that was sitting on my knee. Her hair was naturally brown but had a small pink highlight going down the left side of her head. Her eyes were full of wonder and awe…or at least they were until I finished my story. Now her eyes were staring at me, rather intently.

"So what you're saying, mom, is that I was intended to be a boy?" She said as I averted my eyes away from her.

"Well…you're father wanted to have two boys and a girl but…"

"There you are! Let's go out and play!" A loud, red-headed boy called as he entered the living room we were sitting in. Sitting there was Kim, Stephen, Stacey, Wallace, my daughter, and me.

"Hey! No yelling indoors." Kim snapped at the boy who instantly apologized to us.

"Sorry mom. So come on! Let's play!" He said again as I felt my daughter hop off my knee and looked at me with puppy dog eyes. I shook my head and shooed her to go play. She smiled and quickly ran towards the boy and they both ran out of the room. I couldn't help but laugh and look over at Kim. "What do you think Scott will say if he saw his daughter playing with your son?"

"Truthfully? He'll ask who's the father…" Kim said, smirking. "I'm not concerned now…but I'll make sure he keeps his paws to himself when he gets older. The last thing I want to be is part of the Pilgrim family."

"Hey!" Stacey called as everyone laughed. I got up and signaled that I was going outside for a bit. They all acknowledged before chatting amongst themselves. As I stepped outside, I mange to catch a glimpse of Canada Geese flying off towards the sunset.

_It's already been years since you died Scott. You're daughter is doing well. Sorry that she couldn't be a boy. That's how life works, I guess. She's becoming curious of who you are and I'm doing my best to tell her what kind of guy you were. I know you're up there watching over us and I pray that you continue watching over us. It's only a matter of time before she starts following in your footsteps…because God forbid she follows mine. _

I wiped my eyes a bit, still feeling a bit sad every time I think about him.

_I remember what you told me on our wedding day. These words have been keeping me going forward and staying strong for all these years. 'I love you Ramona. I love you with all my heart. Though our time is short, and things can change in a heartbeat, always remember that I will live in your heart and I will always watch over you…_

…_don't think of this as the final farewell, but au revoir. Until we meet again. And we will meet again…that's a promise. Cross my heart.'_

I looked up at the sky and smiled as I peered high into the clouds. Wherever you were watching me right now Scott, I hope you hear this.

"Au revoir."

The End

* * *

THE FINAL FAREWELL IS FINALLY FINISH! It only took a year, but the LONG awaited story is now DONE. So the biggest questions is…what now? Will I continue writing? Will I finish all the stories that I put out months ago? Yes and no. I do play to finish Threshold but after that, I dunno. I do want to do a re-write to Life and St. Joel's but that's still up in the air. Random question, if I were to get a twitter and use that for weekly updates on story progression, would anyone follow?

Threshold 036: Something Borrowed – Word Count: 3564/?

Anywho, thank you all for being patient. I love you all for putting up with me for all these months, and, of course…

Until Next Time…!


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